After Nearly Six Years of Incarceration, Former Bus Driver Sentenced Again to 4.5 Years for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A 63-year-old Weifang City, Shandong Province, man is appealing a 4.5-year prison sentence for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Wu Jiqiang was arrested on March 12, 2025, by officers of the Xinhua Road Police Station for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was held at the Weifang City Detention Center. The Kuiwen District Court sentenced him to 4.5 years on April 18, 2025. He appealed to the Weifang City Intermediate Court, which has scheduled a hearing for mid-June 2025.

This isn’t the first time that Mr. Wu has been incarcerated for his faith. He was previously given a three-year labor camp term in 2001 and sentenced to five years in 2002. He was on the verge of death during his labor camp term and was released nine months into the term.

Taking Up Falun Gong

Mr. Wu, born in June 1962, was the bus driver for the Weifang City Financial Bureau. He suffered a severe concussion during a car accident in April 1987. He had a persistent headache and couldn’t fall asleep at night. He sought various medical treatments, but his condition kept worsening, and the medications he took caused issues with his stomach.

In March 1997, Mr. Wu began to practice Falun Gong, and he soon regained health. He was filled with energy and no longer had any sleep issues. His body weight also increased from 56 kg (123 lbs) to 79 kg (174 lbs).

Drug Administration at Psychiatric Hospital and Nearly Six Years of Incarceration

On July 20, 1999, the day the persecution started, Mr. Wu and his wife, Ms. Pan Guihua, went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. They were arrested in Tianjin and taken back to Weifang. Mr. Wu was held in his workplace’s guesthouse for over ten days. He held a hunger strike to protest and was then released.

Mr. Wu and Ms. Pan returned to Beijing to appeal again in late September 1999. As soon as they stepped into the Central Appeals Office, they were arrested and taken to the Weifang City Liaison Office in Beijing. They were escorted back to Weifang two days later. Mr. Wu was taken to the Weifang City Detention Center for one month of criminal detention and then transferred to a lockup. He was detained for a total of four months and finally released on February 4, 2000.

Mr. Wu went to Beijing for the third time in April 2000 by himself to appeal. He was arrested by agents of the Weifang City Liaison Office in Beijing and held at the Weifang City Detention Center for one month of criminal detention. The guards forced him to work without pay. A month later, he was taken into custody. He held a hunger strike to protest and was admitted to the Changle Psychiatric Hospital four days later.

At the psychiatric hospital, Mr. Wu was forced to take a handful of unknown pills every day. He refused to take the pills after a few days. The doctor restrained him in bed and injected him with unknown drugs. He felt very weak afterward, was unable to eat, and kept drooling. His wife, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law went to his workplace several times to demand his release, which instead led to a threat to fire his wife and sister-in-law. When Mr. Wu was finally released 50 days later, he was so weak that he couldn’t walk on his own.

Before Mr. Wu fully recovered, he was arrested again months later in September 2000 and given three years of forced labor. He first served time in the Lechang Forced Labor Camp and was then taken to the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp. His health kept deteriorating, and he eventually became incapacitated. He was released nine months later in June 2001, thanks to his family’s relentless efforts to rescue him. He resumed practicing Falun Gong and recovered.

Mr. Wu was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong on the street on July 18, 2002, and arrested by officers of the Boli Town Police Station. He was taken to the Jiaonan Detention Center the next day and held there for a year. He was again forced to work without pay. The local court sentenced him to five years in July 2003. He served time at the Weibei Prison and was released on July 18, 2007.

For the years that followed, Mr. Wu was arrested a few more times for raising awareness about the persecution.

In addition to the arrests and detention, his workplace suspended his salary, pension contributions, and health care since the onset of the persecution. He was given a 500-yuan allowance each month in the first year (1999-2000), but no payments were made after that. The cumulative financial loss was over 700,000 yuan. After he became incapacitated and was unable to work due to the drug administration at the psychiatric hospital, his family of four relied on his wife’s 100-yuan monthly income to get by.