Shandong Man Recounts Wrongful Arrest, Sentencing and Abuse in Prison

(Minghui.org) A Weihai City, Shandong Province resident completed a nine-month prison term on March 24, 2025 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Mr. Liu Linfeng recently recounted his arrest, sentencing, and abuse in custody.

Arrest and Sentencing

Mr. Liu went out to distribute Falun Gong informational materials on April 14, 2024 and was reported to the police. Two days later, officer Liu Tao from the Jing District Police Department and four officers from the local police station showed up at his home. He did not open the door and they left.

On April 26, 2024, the police staked out in the hallway of Mr. Liu’s apartment building and arrested him as soon as he returned home from running an errand. He was later released on bail.

The police submitted Mr. Liu’s case to the Rongcheng City Procuratorate on May 22, 2024. Rongcheng is under the administration of Weihai. Mr. Liu was indicted and had his case forwarded to the Rongcheng City Court on June 5, 2024.

Mr. Liu was taken back into custody on the morning of June 25, 2024. After a physical examination, he was put under criminal detention at the Weihai City Detention Center in the afternoon. He went on a hunger strike two days later and was force-fed for 14 days starting on June 30, 2024. He almost suffocated during the process.

Th Rongcheng City Court heard the case on July 15, 2024. Mr. Liu demanded to know what legal basis that prosecutor Dong Yubing had to charge him. Dong replied that she didn’t need any legal basis to indict him. Judge Wang Dongmei sentenced him to nine months with a 2,000-yuan fine at the end of the hearing.

Abused in Prison

Mr. Liu was admitted to the Shandong Province Prison on September 4, 2024. Upon his admission, he was forced to stand for nine hours straight in division 11.

Mr. Liu and other jailed practitioners were subjected to various forms of abuse. One form of torture was to sit on a small stool motionless for up to 18 hours a day, all the while being forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong. Many practitioners had bumps on their buttocks after such long-time sitting. The bumps oozed out yellow pus and were very itchy.

Another form of abuse was to make the practitioners do night security shifts, a way to deprive them of sleep. They could only brush their teeth and wash themselves after 10 p.m. every night. After they went to bed, they were woken up in less than two hours to do a two-hour night shift. Sometimes the night shifts were much longer. Mr. Liu was once forced to do a four hour night shift from midnight to 4 a.m. After he went back to sleep, he was woken up again at 6 a.m., giving him only three hours of sleep that day (10-11 p.m. and 4-6 a.m.). Another time he was only allowed five hours of sleep.

Besides physical punishments, the practitioners were also subjected to verbal abuse and brainwashing. The guards instigated the inmates to verbally attack the practitioners and bombard them with warped understandings of Falun Gong teachings. The goal was to confuse the practitioners and make them renounce their faith. Inmate Wang Jianfeng warned Mr. Lin not to share what happened in the prison after his release and tried to coerce him into saying that the guards were all following the law and treated the practitioners well.

Mr. Lin held firm to his faith despite the constant abuse. The guards often did not allow him to shower, shave, or change his clothes. The longest duration was 27 days. He grew a long beard and stank as a result. The guards eventually allowed him to have a cold shower. They also limited his food intake and only gave him one small steamed bun each meal. He was always hungry, but was not allowed to purchase additional food items. The guards sometimes had him clean the toilets as punishment.

Related Report:

Reported in March and April 2024: 1,031 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested or Harassed for Their Faith