(Minghui.org) A Shanghai engineer's administrative litigation against a police chief for slandering his faith (Falun Gong) has been accepted by the Yangzhou City Intermediate Court in Jiangsu Province.

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

Mr. Xu Yongqing was arrested on November 29, 2017 by the Yangzhou City Police, after they suspected him of mailing letters about Falun Gong from Shanghai to Yangzhou (the two cities are about 180 miles away from each other). He was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan by the Hanjiang District Court on September 18, 2018. He was taken to Hongzehu Prison on January 3, 2019.

While awaiting the prison transfer, Mr. Xu asked his wife to mail out a request for information disclosure on what legal grounds the police had to label his faith as a cult and to have him sentenced based on the “cult” allegation. He argued that no Chinese law has ever criminalized Falun Gong and that the Ministry of Public Security itself never listed Falun Gong as a cult.

Mr. Xu's wife mailed out his request on October 24, 2018 and the Yangzhou City police rejected the request six days later. They wrote to his wife that “the information you requested cannot be made public by the government. If you disagree with the decision, you can apply for administrative reconsideration with the Yangzhou City government or the Jiangsu Province Ministry of Public Security within 60 days, or file an administrative litigation to the local people's court within six months.”

Mr. Xu wrote an administration litigation complaint against Gong Wenfei, chief of Yangzhou City Police Department, but the documents he submitted to the Yangzhou City Detention Center and the prison were blocked by the authorities.

Mr. Xu's wife mailed out the administrative litigation to the Yangzhou City Intermediate Court on his behalf on April 8, 2019. She called the court on April 15 and was told that the case has been accepted and assigned to the Jiangdu District Court in Yangzhou City.

While the litigation case is being processed, Mr. Xu's family visited him recently at the prison. They noticed that he was emaciated, his back was hunched, and he appeared numb and had some mobility problems. Mr. Xu said that he was forced to do long hours of slave labor every day. He was having issues with his back and neck such that it was difficult for him to stand straight or lift his head.

Related reports:

Shanghai Engineer Facing Trial for Requesting Information Disclosure

Shanghai Engineer Files Motion to Reconsider His Case After Court Upholds Prison Sentence for Practicing His Faith

Shanghai Engineer Sentenced to Two Years for Speaking Out for His Persecuted Faith

Shanghai Practitioners Detained 30 Days for Challenging a Propaganda Attack on Falun Gong

Mr. Xu Yongqing in Shanghai Detained Again after Police Interview