Former Glass Shop Owner Faces Trial for His Faith

(Minghui.org) Mr. Wang Liqun, a Qingcheng County, Gansu Province, resident, was arrested in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province on October 19, 2022 for his faith in Falun Gong. He is now held at the Qingcheng County Detention Center. The Zhenyuan County Court has scheduled a hearing of his case on February 27, 2023.

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

Mr. Wang, a 62-year-old former decorative glass shop owner, took up Falun Gong in 1994. Given the excellent quality of his products, he had good reputation and was elected the director of the local business association.

Since the onset of the persecution, Mr. Wang has been targeted several times for upholding his faith.

Mr. Wang was first arrested on July 20, 1999. He was interrogated and held at the police station for a week. The police ordered him to report to the police station every day for a few months after he was released, which caused much negative impact to his business and enormous mental distress to him and his family.

Mr. Wang went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in October 1999 and was arrested. After four days of detention, he was taken back to Qingcheng. The police kept him handcuffed to a metal pipe overnight and then took him to the Qingcheng County Detention Center the next day. He was held there for 37 days and forced to pay 1,000 yuan before he was released. 

Mr. Wang was arrested again on April 24, 2000. After 15 days at the Qingcheng County Detention Center, he was given a three-year term at the Gansu Province No.1 Forced Labor Camp. He was forced to close his store, which caused over 100,000 yuan loss of materials.

The labor camp guards forced Mr. Wang to do heavy labor for long hours each day without pay. On the hot summer days, they didn’t provide him with water, forcing him to drink water used to sharpen sickles. The guards also beat him if he couldn’t finish the required work for the day. After he went back to the cell in the evening, he was forced to watch videos smearing Falun Gong. 

Each Falun Gong practitioner was watched by two inmates around the clock, including when they used the restroom. The practitioners weren’t allowed to talk to each other either, or they would be beaten by the inmates.

The police continued to harass Mr. Wang after he was released.

A group of officers broke into Mr. Wang’s home on July 5, 2015 and arrested his wife. As Mr. Wang went to the nearby Xi’an City to visit his daughter, he escaped the arrest. 

The terror from the persecution took a toll on his wife’s health. She fell ill after being released and passed away shortly after. 

The police harassed Mr. Wang again after his wife’s passing. He was forced to live away from home to avoid the persecution.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Sun Xiaoli (孙小丽), officer of Qingcheng County Domestic Security Office: [phone]Wang Qimin (王启民), deputy secretary of Zhenyuan County Political and Legal Affairs Committee: [phone]Lyu Banghui (吕邦辉), director of Zhenyuan County Police Department: [phone]

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