Once Incarcerated for 17 Years, Hunan Man Arrested Again for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Having served one labor camp term and two prison terms totaling 17 years, a Xiangtan City, Hunan Province resident was arrested again 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.

Several officers broke into Mr. Yang Shiyi’s home on February 20, 2023 and took him to the Xiangtan City Detention Center. The police called his son the next day and asked him to deliver some clothes to his father. They also claimed that Mr. Yang and five other practitioners put up banners bearing information about Falun Gong and that they managed to catch him (while the other five practitioners escaped). But Mr. Yang denied having ever put up the alleged banners.

Previous Persecution

Mr. Yang became interested in spiritual practice since he was young. He traveled across the country to look for a righteous practice but didn’t find it. When Falun Gong was introduced to the public in 1992, he was drawn to its profound teaching and entered the practice. His mother, a former nun who was forced to get married during the communist regime’s political campaign, felt very happy for him.

After the persecution started, Mr. Yang spent very limited time with his family due to repeated arrests and incarceration. When he was not in detention, he and his family also faced non-stop harassment from the authorities.

Mr. Yang was given a 1.5-year term at Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp following an arrest for talking to people about Falun Gong in 2000. He was arrested again in March 2003 for distributing Falun Gong materials and sentenced to eight years in Wangling Prison. He was held at a brainwashing center for a month after another arrest on September 27, 2011. His next arrest was on January 14, 2013, for passing out Falun Gong materials, resulting in a 7.5-year sentence at the Wangling Prison. His mother was heartbroken and passed away a year later.

When Mr. Yang was released in July 2020, he took on the responsibility of caring for his 98-year-old father and son who has a mental disorder.

Mr. Yang’s father broke his hip and became bedridden in early 2022. Mr. Yang cleaned him and cooked for him, without seeking help from his brother and sister-in-law. Two months after his father passed away, Mr. Yang was arrested again for his faith.

Perpetrators’ information:

Wu Jingsong (吴劲松), director of Xiangtan City Police DepartmentHe Jianpeng (贺剑鹏), deputy director of Xiangtan City Police DepartmentXiang Min (向敏), secretary of Xiangtan City Political and Legal Affairs Committee

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

Related reports:

Practitioner Detained 22 Months, Sentenced to 7.5 Years for Distributing Fliers

After Eight Years of Imprisonment, Mr. Yang Shiyi from Xiangtan City Detained Again