(Minghui.org) A Taian City, Shandong Province resident is scheduled to appear in court on January 19, 2022 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Zhao Shengwen, a 75-year-old retired machine technician, was arrested at home on November 25, 2020. His Falun Gong books and informational calendar were confiscated, and he was forced to undergo a physical examination at a hospital. Since he was found to be in poor health, the local detention center refused to accept him and he was released on bail.

Mr. Zhao was summoned by the Taishan District Procuratorate on December 2, 2021. He refused to answer any questions or sign the case documents. He was summoned again by the Taishan District Court on January 6, 2022. A court staff member handed him a copy of his indictment and said his hearing was scheduled for January 19.

This wasn’t the first time that Mr. Zhao had been targeted for his faith. He was previously arrested on January 28, 2000 while going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. The police beat him so savagely that he lost 25 teeth. The authorities monitored his life after he returned to Shandong and ordered him to pay a 5,000 yuan fine.

He didn’t have the money to pay the fine, so his employer was ordered to deduct a portion of his pay every month to cover the amount. As a result, he only received a 195 yuan monthly salary during his remaining working years (he retired in 2007). Moreover, his employer also assigned the most labor intensive work to him, forcing him to work 14 hours a day.

Perpetrators’ information:
Liu Xingyu (刘兴钰), secretary of Taishan District Political and Legal Affairs CommitteeSi Jiaqiang (司家强), head of Taishan District Police Department: +86-538-8254019Zhao Pingyuan (赵平原), president of Taishan District Procuratorate

(More perpetrators’ information is available in the original Chinese article.)