(Minghui.org) A Jianping County resident was recently set free after his lawyer urged the local Procuratorate and the court to drop the case against him.

Mr. Wang Huaxue, 55, was seized from his home on July 5, 2016 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. He was issued a formal arrest warrant one week later.

Mr. Wang’s lawyer met with him on July 18 and noted he had a lot of scrapes on his body. Mr. Wang explained that officers had roughed him up during the arrest.

A total of 373 local residents signed a petition calling for Mr. Wang’s release. The signatures were delivered to the local police, procuratorate, court, and detention center.

Mr. Wang was tried on November 17, after which time his case remained dormant.

His lawyer recently mailed supplemental materials to both the procuratorate and the court. He urged the procuratorate to drop the charges against his client and the court to drop the case.

The lawyer told both agencies that the Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong has lacked legal basis from the onset and that his client should never have been prosecuted for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief.

Mr. Wang was set free days later.