(Minghui.org) It has been recently confirmed by Minghui.org that a Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province resident was secretly sentenced to nine years for his faith in Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Niu Jiahui was arrested on September 24, 2019 at his sister’s home. A police officer put him in a chokehold and almost caused him to suffocate. His sister tried to stop the police, only to be beaten herself.

The police also went to Mr. Niu’s home and confiscated his Falun Gong books, informational materials, and a printer. The confiscated items were hauled away by two vans. 

The police kept Mr. Niu’s family in the dark of his situation after his arrest. On the evening of October 28, 2020, his family received a call and was told that he was scheduled to appear in court the next afternoon. But his family wasn’t told the location of the hearing or allowed to attend it.

This isn’t the first time that Mr. Niu, a former employee of Harbin Railway Bureau, has been persecuted for his faith. He was first sentenced to five years on November 21, 2002, by the Harbin Railroad Transportation Court, for renting an apartment to print Falun Gong materials. 

Three years after he was released, Mr. Niu married another Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Zeng Shuling, in May 2010, who has become disabled from torture in labor camps. Mr. Niu made a living by selling office supplies and repairing printers. He also took on most of the household chores due to Ms. Zeng’s disability.

A group of police officers broke into the couple’s home in the early morning on December 31, 2011, before they even got up. An officer grabbed Ms. Zeng’s hair, yanked her out of bed and dragged her on the ground. When Mr. Niu tried to stop them, the police surrounded and beat him. 

The couple was arrested and given two years of forced labor. Mr. Niu was taken to the Suihua Forced Labor Camp on February 8, 2012 and Ms. Zeng to the Qianjin Forced Labor Camp. The guards once tortured her by leaving her in a pigpen.

The police went to Mr. Niu’s home in October 2017 and tried to harass him, claiming to be there to renew his household registration form. As Mr. Niu wasn’t home when the police came, the police relayed to his neighbor to have him go to the police station.

Suspecting that the police were attempting to arrest him, Mr. Niu asked his sister to go on his behalf. Although the police initially renewed the household registration for him, they soon voided it, claiming that Mr. Niu must go to their office himself and have his photos taken. 

The police later found out through Mr. Niu’s mother that he had a street food stand, selling baked sweet potatoes. They found him on October 31 and demanded his phone number. 

The police harassed him at his food stand again on April 19, 2018, and collected a tissue sample from him for DNA extraction. At that time, Mr. Niu was struggling with poor health caused by the torture in custody, including rupture of the peritoneum (a thin lining in the abdominal cavity that connects and supports internal organs), rectal prolapse, and psoriasis.

The Domestic Security Office in Pingfang District Police Department was responsible for Mr. Niu’s latest arrest. The phone numbers of the office are: : 86-451-86512383, 86-451-86501523, and 86-451-87665260.Zhou Lifeng, head of the Office, 86-13703650400 (cell) and 86-18746011306 (cell)

The anti-gang office of the police department was also involved in persecuting Mr. Liu: 86-451-86505090 and 86-451-86537156.