(Minghui.org) A Xifeng County resident remains detained even though the local procuratorate has returned his case to police, citing insufficient evidence.
Mr. Yang Guoquan went to a local fair on December 5, 2016 to distribute calendars containing messages about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. Many visitors were eager to take a copy, and some even volunteered to help pass out the calendars. Before long, though, the local police arrived and began to rough up the volunteers.
Mr. Yang stopped the officers and said that all the calendars were his. The police took him into custody and issued a formal arrest warrant on December 13. His lawyer argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that his client was exercising his right to freedom of belief and freedom of the press.
The police continued to press charges, claiming that he was a “repeat offender.” Mr. Yang had been targeted for his faith before: he was given 3 years of forced labor in 2000 and sentenced to 3 years in prison in October 2007.
The police forwarded the case to the procuratorate. Though the latter agency soon returned the case, Cheng Zhishan, head of Xifeng Domestic Security Office, told the lawyer that they are still conducting an investigation.
Related Report:Mr. Yang Guoquan from Xifeng County, Liaoning Province, Sentenced to Three Years of Imprisonment
