Heilongjiang Food Vendor Sentenced to Four Years for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, resident recently lost his appeal of a four-year prison sentence because he practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Sun Deguo, 46, a seafood and non-staple food vendor, began practicing Falun Gong in 2012. He shared an apartment with two other practitioners, Mr. Sun Wenzhong and Mr. Zhang Liguo.

On January 8, 2022, Mr. Sun and another Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. Dai Zhidong, drove to the nearby Lindian County to deliver food products. While filling up gas in Lindian County, Mr. Dai gave the gas station attendant a booklet about Falun Gong, who then passed it to someone in a black car behind their truck.

When Mr. Sun and Mr. Dai returned in the afternoon, they were stopped by the traffic police and arrested by officers from the Lindian County Domestic Security Division.

The police took Mr. Sun’s and Mr. Dai’s keys and raided their homes. Mr. Sun’s suitemates, Mr. Sun Wenzhong and Mr. Zhang, were also arrested. The police the 5,000 yuan Mr. Dai kept at home.

While Mr. Sun Deguo, Mr. Dai and Mr. Zhang were released on bail the next day after paying 10,000 yuan bond, Mr. Sun Wenzhong was kept in custody, as he claimed the responsibility for making Falun Gong materials that Mr. Dai gave out.

The arrest and financial loss dealt a heavy blow to Mr. Dai, who was still mourning the death of his wife, who died due to the persecution. His health quickly declined and he died a month later, on February 11, 2022. He was 60.

Mr. Sun Wenzhong, Mr. Sun Deguo and Mr. Zhang filed complaints against the police for wrongfully arresting them, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the police submitted Mr. Sun Wenzhong’s case to the Ranghulu District Procuratorate, which indicted him on April 29, 2022. He appeared in the Ranghulu District Court on June 10, 2022 and was sentenced to 3.5 years on June 30. He was taken to the Hulan Prison after his appeal was rejected by the Daqing City Intermediate Court.

After the 2023 Chinese New Year, officer Wei Fang from the Lindian County Police Department called Mr. Sun Deguo and Mr. Zhang, asking them to come and pick up the 10,000 yuan bond they paid a year ago. They went there, but Wei refused to return the money and said they submitted their cases to the procuratorate.

Officer Huang Long of the Lindian County Police Department was assigned to handle Mr. Sun Deguo’s case. He later called Mr. Sun several times and ordered him to come get the bond money. Knowing that the police were trying to arrest him, Mr. Sun did not go.

Several plainclothes officers were staked outside Mr. Sun’s warehouse on August 6, 2024 and arrested him around noon. When Mr. Sun’s family cleaned the warehouse, they found 60,000 yuan in cash was missing.

The Lindian County Police Department submitted Mr. Sun’s case to the Ranghulu District Procuratorate in late September 2024 and he was indicted shortly after.

The Ranghulu District Court held a virtual hearing of Mr. Sun’s case on November 21, 2024. He testified in his own defense. The court notified him in late December 2024 that he was sentenced to four years. He appealed to the Daqing City Intermediate Court, but it ruled to uphold the original verdict.

It’s not clear whether Mr. Zhang was facing prosecution.

Mr. Sun Deguo’s Prior Persecution

Mr. Sun Deguo was previously arrested several times for distributing Falun Gong materials.

He was first arrested on June 26, 2012, by officers from the Daqing City Police Department and Sartu District Police Department. The police also seized his truck and detained him for an unknown amount of time.

Mr. Sun was arrested again on October 19, 2016, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials at a supermarket. He was given 15 days of detention by the Dongan Police Station.

Mr. Sun was surrounded by a group of plainclothes officers when he returned home from distributing Falun Gong materials on September 28, 2020. They snatched his key and raided his apartment. His Falun Gong books, a laptop and a printer were confiscated. He was interrogated at the Datong District Police Department and detained at the Lindian County Detention Center for two weeks.

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