(Minghui.org) A 75-year-old resident of Pingdu City, Shandong Province was arrested at his home on June 21, 2019 for not renouncing his faith in Falun Gong, a mind and body improvement system that has been persecuted in China since 1999.
Mr. Sheng Songgang's arrest came five months after the arrest of his daughter, Ms. Sheng Shuli, also for her faith in Falun Gong.
Hours after Ms. Sheng’s arrest on January 22, 2019, her son, who is disabled, went to the local police station to see her, only to be threatened and turned away. The same thing happened when he went to the police station to visit his grandfather.
With both his mother and grandfather incarcerated at Pudong Detention Center, Ms. Sheng’s son was left to try to help them on his own.
Mr. Sheng began to practice Falun Gong in 1998. He used to have severe deformed extremities and could barely walk due to his chronic rheumatoid arthritis. The arthritis quickly disappeared after he picked up the practice. His daughter became a practitioner after she witnessed the miraculous healing power of the practice.
After the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 1999, Mr. Sheng was arrested multiple times for refusing to give up his belief and for persisting in telling others that the persecution was wrong.
He went to Beijing to protest the persecution in November 1999. The police arrested and transferred him back to Pingdu, where he was tortured for six days. He was fined 5,000 yuan and forced to sign a statement to renounce his faith.
In November 2000 local authorities arrested and tortured him for a week. He was tied to a tree for refusing to give up his practice.
In December 2000, Mr. Sheng went to Beijing again. The police arrested him, and he went on a hunger strike on his way being transferred back home. To punish him, two officers took turns slapping his face with their hands and then bamboo sticks. His face was bruised, swollen and disfigured. One of the officers smashed a beer glass bottle on his back, leaving him sitting on the broken glass. He was tortured for eight days before he was sent home.
The Pingdu 610 Office and the local police arrested Mr. Sheng on January 19, 2003 and tortured him in a brainwashing center for 35 days.
Agents from the 610 Office and the town officials ransacked Mr. Sheng’s place on April 28, 2001 and confiscated his personal belongings.
His home was ransacked again on June 15, 2007.
Mr. Sheng was incarcerated and fined for telling people about Falun Gong on July 26, 2016.
Several officers from Zhugou Police Station went to Mr. Sheng’s home on March 20, 2017 and forced him to sign his name on a piece of blank paper. Ten days later on March 30, two officers came and confiscated his Falun Gong materials and over 1,000 yuan in cash.
Related report:Pingdu Court of Shandong Illegally Tries Ms. Sheng Shuli