(Minghui.org) A 67-year-old man in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, has developed a serious medical condition since he was arrested nearly seven months ago for practicing Falun Gong. This is the third time that Mr. Zhao Huanzhen has been arrested in the past five years, with the two previous arrests followed by two prison sentences.
According to Mr. Zhao’s family, he is having persistent rectal bleeding and is very weak. They are demanding his immediate release.
Mr. Zhao’s ordeal stemmed from his arrest on the morning of May 10, 2023, while he and four others were visiting 79-year-old Ms. Zhu Fengchun and her husband, 82-year-old Mr. Zhang Dehai. All seven of them are Falun Gong practitioners. Officers from the Qinhuangdao City Police Department, the Shanhaiguan District Police Department, and the Shanhaiguan Street Committee pounded on the elderly couple’s door while calling their daughter’s name. When the couple refused to open the door, the police cut off their house power supply and scaled the fence to break in.
The police videotaped and body-searched the couple and their five guests.
Nearly 50 officers filled the couple’s front yard. One flashed his ID and then quickly pocketed it. They called out the names of four guests—Mr. Zhao, Mr. Jin Chaohong, Ms. Deng, and Ms. Mu—and arrested them. Ms. Zhu, her husband, and their fifth guest, whose name isn’t known, were not arrested.
Mr. Zhao, Mr. Jin, Ms. Deng, and Ms. Mu were taken to the police stations that oversaw their respective residences and had their homes ransacked.
Ms. Deng and Ms. Mu were released between 8 and 9 p.m. Both Mr. Zhao and Mr. Jin were held at the Qinhuangdao City Detention Center. Mr. Zhao is to be tried in the Funing County Court. Judge Lin Shuangquan has been assigned to his case. The head of the Shanhaiguan District Police Department is seeking to have him sentenced to prison. Mr. Jin’s family was notified on November 17, 2023, that he was sentenced to ten months, but details about his indictment and sentencing aren’t clear.
Mr. Zhao’s Past Persecution
Mr. Zhao took up Falun Gong in April 1996. In six months, his many ailments, including a herniated disc, rheumatism, and chronic enteritis, disappeared.
Since the persecution began in July 1999, he has been detained over ten times. He was tortured in Hehuakeng Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, and became disabled. In the past five years, he has been sentenced twice, including an 18-month term following an arrest on May 19, 2019, for talking to people about Falun Gong and another 14-month term after another arrest on August 22, 2021.
Related reports:
The Persecution of Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Zhao Huanzhen from Shanhaiguan City, Hebei Province
How Practitioner Mr. Zhao Huanzhen Was Abused in Hehuakeng Labor Camp, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
Related article in Chinese:
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