Belated News: Shanxi Man Dies in Prison While Serving Time for His Faith

(Minghui.org)

Name: Luo BaojunChinese Name: 罗保俊Gender: MaleAge: In his 60sCity: TaiyuanProvince: ShanxiOccupation: N/ADate of Death: April 2021Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 25, 2018Most Recent Place of Detention: Jinzhong Prison

Minghui.org recently confirmed that a Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province resident in his 60s died in April 2021 while serving time for his faith in Falun Gong.

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

Mr. Luo Baojun was arrested on June 25, 2018 for studying Falun Gong’s teachings with other practitioners. The police smashed in his door and broke into his home. They sealed his door after the raid. He was held at the Gujiao Detention Center.

Eight other practitioners were arrested on the same day, including Ms. Wang Lanmei, Ms. Wang Suping, Ms. Sun Zhifen, Ms. Zhang Qingxiang, Ms. Zhang Runying, Ms. Guo Runxian, Ms. Tian Yuqin, and Ms. Hu Lanying. Most of them were in their 60s at the time of the arrest.

The Yingze District Procuratorate indicted the nine practitioners on January 2, 2019. They appeared in Yingze District Court on April 2, 2019, handcuffed and shackled. The practitioners’ lawyers entered not guilty pleas for them. They argued that the police searched their homes without a warrant and fabricated evidence against them.

Eight of the practitioners were sentenced to between one and ten years in prison. While the case of the ninth practitioner, Ms. Wang Lanmei was paused for two years, the court reopened her case two years later and sentenced her to a two-year prison term.

Mr. Luo was sentenced to five years and fined 20,000 yuan. He was taken to the Jinzhong Prison around June 2019. Since the Chinese communist regime initiated the “Zero-out” campaign in early 2020 to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their faith, the prison authorities also aggressively carried out the campaign.

The practitioners were only allowed one steamed bun per meal. Any food they had bought previously was confiscated. Those who refused to renounce Falun Gong were held in solitary confinement, forced to stand facing the wall for long hours, or hung up by their wrists and beaten. Even when some practitioners gave in to the torture and were forced to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong, the guards further ordered them to verbally abuse Falun Gong before the torture was stopped.

According to another Falun Gong practitioner imprisoned there, Mr. Luo fell while taking a shower in April 2021 and passed away shortly after. Due to strict information censorship in the prison, more details about his case aren’t clear at the time of writing.

Related reports:

Seven Shanxi Residents Arrested in One Day and Facing Indictment for Their Faith

The “Zero-out” Campaign in Jinzhong Prison, Shanxi Province

Prison Guard Yang Chunsheng Savagely Beats Falun Gong Practitioners Imprisoned for Their Faith