Liaoning Man Scheduled to Make Third Court Appearance for His Faith

(Minghui.org) A Haicheng City, Liaoning Province resident is scheduled to appear in Lishan District Court on August 19, 2022 for remaining true to his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Bai Xuesong ’s case was the last case to be handled by judge Liu Yin, who had accepted a new job offer outside of the criminal court. But because she had taken up Mr. Bai’s case before the move, she was required to carry it through.

Mr. Bai, 49, was arrested on January 20, 2021 while visiting a local Falun Gong practitioner. His upcoming court session was preceded by two virtual hearings on December 27, 2021 and January 7, 2022, respectively. The first session had a late start and the judge adjourned it without giving Mr. Bai’s lawyer any time to make his defense argument. The second hearing had to be adjourned shortly after it began due to malfunction of the video device.

Between Mr. Bai’s first and second hearings in January and May 2022, the Anshan City No. 2 Detention Center prohibited his lawyer from visiting him. The lawyer was allowed to have a virtual meeting with him on May 17. When the lawyer was finally allowed to visit Mr. Bai in person on August 4, he was shocked to see that Mr. Bai had lost more than 20 lbs over the past few months.

Mr. Bai said that the detention center barred his family from sending clothes or food, citing the pandemic as an excuse. Before April 19, all the detainees were only given plain steamed buns and clear soup with cabbage only. After April 19, they were given some rice for lunch, but still not much vegetable or meat. The guards restricted them from buying extra food at the commissary and the items sold there, such as eggs, milk and cookies, were significantly marked up.

In addition to the lack of food, other living conditions at the detention center were also poor. Mr. Bai shared a room with 19 other detainees, and there was no air-conditioning or fan, making it steaming hot in the summer. The inmates sometimes abused him and reported him for doing Falun Gong exercises.

Mr. Bai wrote a complaint letter to the prosecutor, surnamed Li, stationed at the detention center, but is yet to hear back from him.

In addition to the persecution of Mr. Bai, the authorities also attempted to target his daughter (it’s not clear whether his daughter practices Falun Gong or not). Bai Tianming (no relation to Mr. Bai), the head of Fanrong Police Station, called Mr. Bai’s elderly parents on March 4, 2022 and asked where is their granddaughter. The court staff members also asked Mr. Bai about his daughter’s whereabouts while visiting him at the detention center on March 7, leaving Mr. Bai constantly worried about her.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Li Yong (李勇), secretary of Anshan City Political and Legal Affairs Committee: [phone], [phone]Liu Yin (刘音), judge of Lishan District Court: [phone], [phone]Ma Baochang (马宝昌), prosecutor of Lishan District Procuratorate: [phone]

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

Related report:

Liaoning Man Faces Trial, Suffers Medical Condition in Custody