(Minghui.org) A 67-year-old man in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, is facing trial for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Teng Yuguo was first arrested on April 23, 2020. The police ransacked his home and confiscated his computer, printer, and other personal belongings worth more than 5,000 yuan. His private vehicle and 12,000 yuan in cash were also impounded.
Mr. Teng was released at around 2 a.m. on April 27, after he was denied admission to the local detention center due to a fever. The police, however, continued to harass him, forcing him to live away from home and go into hiding.
To find Mr. Teng, plainclothes officers went to the auto repair shop next to his home every day to see if he had come back. Sometimes they knocked on his door, pretending to ask for help.
The police later lied to his family that they had dismissed his case and it was safe for him to return home. Mr. Teng believed the police and returned to his family.
On the morning of October 13, after confirming that Mr. Teng was home, officers broke in and handcuffed and shackled him. One officer punched him on the face and made it bleed. He has been held in the Sujiatun Detention Center ever since.
A Yuhong District Court clerk called Mr. Teng’s wife on February 19, 2021, and told her that he had been indicted and was facing trial.
The clerk then told her that, if she intended to hire a lawyer to defend him, she had only one day to do it. When she said it would be impossible for her to find a lawyer in one day, the clerk said he was just delivering the message but that if she didn’t submit the lawyer’s information by the next day, they would take it to mean she was giving up the right to hire their own lawyer and the court would appoint a lawyer for Mr. Teng.
In recent years, because many police officers have understood the facts about Falun Gong and stopped participating in the persecution, the Chinese communist regime is hosting training sessions for all police station directors in an attempt to entice the police to actively persecute practitioners again by promising to increase their pay or promote them.
The director of Minzhu Police Station, which is responsible for Mr. Teng’s arrest, just returned from a training session in Beijing. He vowed to ramp up the persecution if the practitioners refuse to give up their faith.
Before taking up Falun Gong, Mr. Teng was addicted to drinking. He often fought with others and was detained several times for assault. In the 1980s, he kicked a strong man blind; his father paid the man 30,000 yuan as compensation. Unable to bear that kind of life, his wife almost divorced him.
In the early 1990s, both Mr. Teng and his father began to practice Falun Gong. He quit smoking and drinking, lived by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and no longer fought with anyone. His wife was also able to enjoy a peaceful life at home.
For upholding his faith and being a good person, he has now been arrested and detained again.
66-year-old Man Arrested a Second Time in Six Months for His Faith