(Minghui.org) A 85-year-old resident of Jilin City, Jilin Province was sentenced to six years in prison in mid-December 2019 for practicing Falun Gong. Mr. Guo Yunian was scheduled to have a physical examination on January 2, 2020 in preparation for his prison admission.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress the practice in July 1999, a large number of practitioners have been detained, imprisoned, and tortured.
Mr. Guo began to practice Falun Gong in 1996 and soon saw his illnesses cured without medication. He has remained healthy over the past 20 years.
Four officers from Xin’an Police Station came to the apartment complex where Mr. Guo lives at 5 a.m. on July 19, 2019. They waited outside his building and then arrested three practitioners who went to his apartment at 8 a.m. to read Falun Gong books together. The three practitioners, all in their 70s, include Mr. Li Changhai and his wife Ms. Li Shuyun, and a practitioner surnamed Luan. They were later released.
The police ransacked Mr. Guo’s place and confiscated his valuables, including six boxes of printer paper, ink, nearly 10,000 yuan in cash, as well as Falun Gong materials and books.
After Mr. Guo was taken to a detention center later that day, he failed the required physical examination and was released on bail after paying a fine of 2,000 yuan.
During a hearing at Chuanying Court in early November 2019, the prosecutor recommended to give Mr. Guo 7 to 8 years of imprisonment. In mid-December, his family received a guilty verdict dated November 29, 2019.
The verdict stated that Mr. Guo was sentenced for “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used by the Chinese communist regime to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners. The verdict also listed the items confiscated from his home as prosecution evidence, including Falun Gong books in his home, DVDs about Falun Gong, bank notes with phrases about Falun Gong written on them, and stamps with phrases related to Falun Gong on them.
As no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it a cult, Mr. Guo's lawful possession of above-mentioned items broke no law nor caused harm to anyone. He has filed an appeal with Jilin Intermediate Court.
Xu Xuefeng, deputy chief of Longtan Police Department in charge of Domestic Security Division: +86-13304400802, +86-13704400802, +86-432-63079199Li Yaodong, director of Xin’an Police Department: +86-13944678577, +86-432-63037378 (H)