(Minghui.org) A Baoding City, Hebei Province resident is serving an eight-year prison term for raising awareness about his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Wang Haisheng, 47, was arrested on January 3, 2017 on his way home. The police had been secretly following him and monitoring his cellphone for more than two weeks after he was reported for playing a recorded message about Falun Gong through his village's public address system on December 13, 2016.
The police smashed the window of his enclosed electric tricycle during the arrest, resulting in an injury to his forehead. He was then taken to the local police station and interrogated until midnight. The officers locked him in a chair and denied restroom use. One officer commented, “You can just go ahead and relieve yourself in your pants.”
The police provided him with no food or water until noon the next day. They also collected his fingerprints and a blood sample.
After Mr. Wang’s arrest, a group of plainclothes officers ransacked his home when no one was around. His computer, cellphone, Falun Gong books, IDs, as well as many other valuables, including 4,000 yuan in cash, were confiscated.
Before the police left, Mr. Wang’s wife, Ms. Wang Xiuqian, returned home after picking up their daughter from school. The police arrested Ms. Wang, leaving the little girl at home alone. The girl was later picked up by her uncle after he heard about the couple’s arrests. Ms. Wang was released 15 days later.
Mr. Wang appeared in Tang County Court on July 4, 2017, and was sentenced to eight years and a 20,000 yuan fine on December 6 in the same year. He appealed the verdict to the Baoding City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold the verdict on April 9, 2018. Mr. Wang was sent to Jidong Prison on April 17, 2018.