(Minghui.org) Mr. Wang Pingsheng, a 65-year-old man in Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, was arrested on December 24, 2020. The police didn’t disclose his whereabouts until three months later. It was recently confirmed by his family that Mr. Wang had been imprisoned on March 9, 2021. Why was Mr. Wang sent directly to the prison? What crime did he commit?

His imprisonment stemmed from his arrest on the night of April 20, 2018, when he and two other locals, Mr. Dong Yuexiao and Mr. Jiang Shisheng, were seized while distributing informational materials about their faith in Falun Gong, a meditation practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime for the past 22 years.

Officers from the Haiqing Police Station ransacked their residences the next day. Mr. Jiang was held in the Huangdao District Detention Center in Qingdao City, while Mr. Wang and Mr. Dong were released on bail after being denied admission to the detention center due to their poor health.

The three practitioners were indicted in December 2018. They appeared in the Huangdao District Court on August 1, 2019. Mr. Dong was already very weak before the hearing and he had to be helped to walk to the courtroom. Three days after the hearing, he suddenly lost consciousness and was hospitalized. He remained in a coma after a surgical procedure and passed away on September 7, 2019.

In November 2019, Mr. Wang was sentenced to four years and Mr. Jiang to three years. As a medical examination indicated that Mr. Wang was seriously ill, the court agreed to let him go home on bail without serving time right then.

One year later, on December 24, 2020, officers from Haiqing Police Station arrested Mr. Wang at home and kept his family in the dark as to his whereabouts. It wasn’t until March 26, 2021, did they receive a letter from the Shandong Province Prison, informing them that Mr. Wang had been taken to the prison in Jinan City on March 9.

Arrested for Appealing for Falun Gong

Mr. Wang was a salesman at Zhucheng City Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Company in Shandong Province. Before practicing Falun Gong, he suffered from severe cerebrovascular disease. He had bad headaches, high blood pressure, and significant memory loss. The pain in his left leg caused much difficulty when he walked. He went to many different hospitals but he didn’t get any better.

Mr. Wang came to a Falun Gong exercise site in March 1998 with the idea of giving it a try. His illnesses magically disappeared after he finished watching the nine-day lectures by Falun Gong’s founder.

The Communist Party launched the persecution against Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, and Mr. Wang and his family decided to go to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice their faith in February 2000. They were arrested at Tiananmen Square and detained in Beijing for three days.

Mr. Wang was later taken back to Renminlu Police Station in Zhucheng City. A police officer named Cao Jinghui beat him brutally during interrogation. Mr. Wang was forced to pay a 5,000-yuan bail bond before he was released on the third day.

Torture illustration: Beating

Mr. Wang didn’t give up. He returned to Beijing to appeal in May 2000, only to be arrested again at the entrance of the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration. He was detained for four days in Beijing before being taken back to Zhucheng, along with practitioners Liu Jinyan, Wang Yulan, Li Yuxiang, and Liu Shuhua.

Because the practitioners tried to do Falun Gong exercises in the detention center in Zhucheng, the police handcuffed them to the window frame with the tips of their toes barely touching the ground. They then forced them to stretch their arms flat with a book on top and slapped and kicked them when they moved.

Torture illustration: Handcuffed to the window frame with tip of toes touching the ground

Mr. Wang was detained for one month and the 5,000 bond he paid last time was confiscated.

More Detentions for Persisting in Practicing Falun Gong

After Mr. Wang was released, his company held him in custody for another 40 days and suspended his salary afterwards.

On September 30, 2000, Mr. Wang was brought to the office of his company’s headquarters, and two staffers threatened to beat him to death. Mr. Wang was detained for two days.

A few days later in October, Du from his company asked Mr. Wang if he would continue to practice Falun Gong, and Mr. Wang replied firmly, “Yes.” Because of this, he was detained for one month.

Mr. Wang was arrested one more time in December 2000. He was knocked down on the ground and body-searched. He was detained for another month and the 37 yuan cash he had was confiscated.

Mr. Wang’s next arrest was in April 2002, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. He was given one month of criminal detention and released on May 26. In the same year, the police gave him three years at Changle Forced Labor Camp without due process. Due to his physical condition, he was not admitted by the labor camp and released.

Ms. Wang was arrested again on October 23, 2003, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was detained again for a month. He held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was released on November 20.

Mr. Wang was arrested on March 5, 2004, and given 15 days of administrative detention, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong at a public plaza. He held a hunger strike again and was released four days later.

The police gave him another labor camp term following his other arrest on April 16, 2008. He was taken to the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp on April 21 and was released on May 5, due to his physical condition.

Less than two years later, Mr. Wang was arrested one more time on January 8, 2010. The police handcuffed him to a metal chair and interrogated him. His watch and 40 yuan in cash were confiscated. He was put in criminal detention for an unknown period of time.

Mr. Wang was arrested on September 15, 2015, and detained for a month for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese communist regime who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong.

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