73-Year-Old Shandong Man Stands Trial for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A 73-year-old resident of Pingdu City, Shandong Province stood trial on May 21, 2025 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Mr. Li Zhengxun was arrested on March 5, 2025, while he was talking to people about Falun Gong. The two arresting officers, Hu Bing and Yang Benjin from the Yifengdian Police Station, gave him criminal detention the next day and took him to the Jimo District Detention Center (also known as Pudong Detention Center and Qingdao Police Supervision Center) on March 7. The Jimo District Procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant for him on March 20. His Beijing lawyer visited him at the detention center on April 7.

The detention center guards took Mr. Li to the Haici Hospital and later the Seventh Hospital for physical examinations. Both times he was shown to have hernia, a tumor in his heart, and a mass in his abdomen, yet the authorities kept him in detention.

During the trial held at the detention center on May 21, Mr. Li’s lawyer testified against the police for listing his client’s wife as a prosecution witness, even though she never signed the interrogation records. Another prosecution witness listed in the indictment was not in court for cross examination, and his testimony should not have been admissible.

The Falun Gong informational materials confiscated from Mr. Li’s home were also listed as prosecution evidence against him. He pointed out that the General Administration of Press and Publication had long repealed its ban on the publication of Falun Gong books back in 2011. His lawyer followed up, saying that the materials were Mr. Li’s lawful assets and caused no harm to anyone or society at large.

Prosecutor Wan Jun alleged that Falun Gong is a cult, and Mr. Li reminded her that no enacted law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult. He shared how Falun Gong freed him from the suffering of a mental disorder and gave his life back. He added that Falun Gong also turned him into a more considerate person. The factory he worked for used coal briquettes for heating in the winter. Other workers were unwilling to move the briquettes from the courtyard to the workshop. Mr. Li did it all by himself during breaks.

The presiding judge, Jiang Bing, ordered Mr. Li to sign the court proceedings, and he refused. He remains detained at the detention center.

Past Persecution

Mr. Li’s latest persecution was preceded by multiple prior arrests over the years. He was arrested on May 24, 2013 and October 13, 2018. Both times he was detained for 15 days. Around October 10, 2019, Guo Yucheng, deputy head of the local 610 Office, led two people to break into Mr. Li’s home. They checked all the rooms before leaving. A few officers from the Nancun Town Police Station harassed him at home on May 22 and 23, 2020.

Mr. Li was harassed again on April 11, 2021, by three officers from the Nancun Town Police Station. They took pictures of couplets on the door and a wall decoration. They questioned if he had a computer or cell phone, and whether he talked to people about Falun Gong. They demanded to see his ID and forced him to fill out a form.

The police twice knocked on Mr. Li’s door on the morning of July 20, 2022. No one was home and they left. The Nancun Town government called his wife that night and warned her that the police would return the next day.

Three officers from the Nancun Town Police Station went to Mr. Li’s workplace one day in September 2022. His supervisor said he was a good person and the police still harassed him at home.

Two agents from the local 610 Office and three officers arrested Mr. Li’s at work on October 17, 2022. They claimed that someone had reported him to them. He refused to sign the interrogation records, and a person who appeared to be a police supervisor instructed the officers to send him home. The police confiscated his Falun Gong books, portrait of the Falun Gong’s founder, and a plaque reading “Zhen-Shen-Ren” [Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance].

Two days later, two plainclothes officers showed up in an unmarked car and ordered Mr. Li to go with them to the Nancun Town Police Station. He went and was ordered to sign a notice, saying that he was given ten days of criminal detention, but was exempted from detention, given his advanced age. He refused to sign. The police chief and an instructor surnamed Zhao then ordered him to fill out a form detailing his biometric information. He again said no and the duo filled out the form for him using information from their archives. They then pricked his fingers to collect a blood sample before letting him go.

During the Communist Party’s annual political conferences in March 2024, the police harassed Mr. Li at home again and took his pictures.

Related Article in Chinese:

山东平度市七旬法轮功学员李正训被非法批捕

Related Report:

Three Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Pingdu, Shandong Province