After Multiple Arrests and Harassment, Hebei Man Sentenced for His Faith

(Minghui.org) A man in Zhengding County, Hebei Province, was sentenced to two years after nearly two years of detention for his faith in Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Liu Shulin was arrested at home on May 19, 2020 and has been held at the Xinle City Detention Center since. The Procuratorate approved his arrest on June 28, 2020 and later indicted him. He stood trial in the Zhengding County Court on July 30, 2021 and was recently sentenced. His family is very worried about him. 

Past Persecution

Mr. Liu developed severe muscle atrophy in March 1997. The condition caused excruciating pain all over his body and he often felt tightness in his chest. Back then, his parents were in their 70s and he also had two young children, a 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son. He often worried about them and was desperate about life. 

A year later, in March 1998, Mr. Liu was introduced to Falun Gong. After doing the exercises for only one week, he saw significant improvement. As he continued to practice Falun Gong, he completely recovered. He worked in his family’s vinegar business and was full of hope again. Several of his family members also took up the practice. 

After the Chinese Communist Party launched the persecution in 1999, Mr. Liu and his family suffered relentless torture and incarceration for upholding their faith.

Falsely Accused of Sabotaging Railway

On October 27, 2008, a passenger train heading to Beijing was forced to stop near Zhengding County, after the conductor found big rocks on the railway. Over 100 police officers were dispatched to investigate the incident. 

Li Wenmin, the village Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary, took it as an opportunity to advance his political career. He framed Mr. Liu and accused him of placing the rocks on the railway, despite not having any evidence. 

The police soon came to search Mr. Liu’s home, without a warrant, and took away a pair of his shoes. They examined his left leg and interrogated him. 

On the evening, the local TV station broadcast the news that a Falun Gong practitioner sabotaged the railway system by placing rocks on the tracks. Meanwhile, in order to force Mr. Liu to plead guilty, police officers Wang Weigang and Shi Peng deprived him of sleep, beat him and left him restrained on a tiger bench overnight. He was transferred to the Railroad Detention Center three days later.

Days later, the police found the real criminal who placed the rock – an internal employee of the railway station. 

When the police released Mr. Liu on November 14, 2008, instead of apologizing for wrongfully detaining him, they gave him a one-year suspended forced labor camp term, saying to him, “Because you are a Falun Gong practitioner, we might lose our jobs if we just let you go. Now we are giving you a year of forced labor. You don’t need to serve it, but you can’t leave Shijiazhuang (which has jurisdiction over Zhengding County) for a year. If you violate this condition, we will arrest you again at any time.” They also asked Mr. Liu to thank them before leaving.

Another Arrest and Delayed Medical Treatment

Mr. Liu and eight other practitioners went to the Hebei Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp on August 3, 2009 to seek the release of his relative, Ms. Wang Yuexia, who remained detained after her term expired. The police arrested Mr. Liu and interrogated him until 10 p.m. They also extorted 500 yuan from him before letting him go. 

The police seized Mr. Liu at home three days later, ransacked his place and took him to the Zhengding County Detention Center the next day. After a week of detention, he suddenly had severe stomachache, yet the guards accused him of pretending. With his strong protest, the guards provided him with simple medical treatment, but his condition didn’t see any improvement. 

When the police finally took him to the hospital, he was found to have intestinal obstruction and acute appendicitis. Due to the delay of medical intervention, he had developed a severe internal infection and the doctor couldn’t operate on him. While Mr. Liu was taking antibiotics to treat the inflammation, he found an opportunity to escape from the hospital and was forced to live away from home for the next four years to avoid persecution.

While Mr. Liu was still on the run, the police arrested his wife, Ms. Bai Shuqin, and their son Mr. Liu Xiaobao, on August 7, 2012. They accused Ms. Bai of promoting a petition drive to rescue another detained practitioner, Mr. Li Lankui, and gave her a 15-month labor camp term. 

Targeted for Suing Jiang Zemin

In May 2015, Mr. Liu and Ms. Bai filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the persecution. On August 5, the police harassed them at home and videotaped them. 

The authorities harassed Mr. Liu again on December 9, threatening to sentence him if he continued to practice Falun Gong.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Zhang Zhiqi (张志琪), judge, Zhengding County Court: [phone]Zhao Junjie (赵俊杰), persecutor, Zhengding County Procuratorate: [phone]Li Zhijun (李志军, head of the Xinle County Detention Center: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)