Shandong Man Sentenced to Seven Years, Father Also Imprisoned for Their Shared Faith in Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A Weifang City, Shandong Province resident was recently sentenced to seven years for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Gao Peng’s sentencing came while his father, Mr. Gao Guangcheng, was also serving time for his shared faith in Falun Gong. The elder Mr. Gao was arrested on April 27, 2020 for talking talking to people about Falun Gong. He was sentenced to 1.5 years by the Qingzhou Court on December 10, 2020 and transferred from the Changle Detention Center to the Shandong Province Prison on December 8, 2021.

Mr. Gao Peng, in his 30s, was arrested on May 18, 2021, after being reported by Yang Shuguang, Yang Jinwei and Yang Zhonghua of the Zaohu Village for going there to distribute Falun Gong materials. The police ransacked his home and confiscated his Falun Gong books, computer and cellphone.

Mr. Gao was carried home at around 9 p.m. on May 20. He was unable to walk. When his family asked the police what had happened, they replied that he just pulled something and didn’t allow Mr. Gao to talk. On the next morning, Mr. Gao’s family found his right arm was swollen and he was unable to hold anything.

Between May 21 and May 25, the police returned every morning at around 6 a.m. to take Mr. Gao away. He was sent back home every night at around 9 p.m. Zhao Shisheng of the Domestic Security Office ransacked his home one more time on the morning of May 25 before he left.

Mr. Gao didn’t return on May 26, after he was taken away in the morning. His family was informed on the next day that his arrest was approved by the Changle District Procuratorate the previous afternoon and he was already admitted to the Changle District Detention Center.

The authorities transferred Mr. Gao to the Weifang Detention Center on June 10 without informing his family, who didn’t find out about the transfer until June 18, when they went to the Changle District Detention Center to make a cash deposit for him. They called the Changle District Domestic Security Office over ten times to inquire about his case, but no one answered their call.

The police submitted Mr. Gao’s case to the Qingzhou Procuratorate on August 13. He was indicted on September 10. The Qingzhou Court informed his family on December 17 that he was scheduled to be tried through a video conference on December 20. His family recently learned that he was sentenced to seven years with a 50,000-yuan fine. He has appealed the verdict.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Gao Liang (高亮), head of Changle County Domestic Security Office: [phone]Wang Aiping (王爱萍), prosecutor of Qingzhou City Procuratorate: [phone]Zheng Xuejun (郑学军), presiding judge of Qingzhou City Court: [phone], [phone]

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