(Minghui.org) Mr. He Guo’ao, of Tongcheng County, Xianning City, Hubei Province, was sentenced to three years, after he was arrested on March 6, 2021, for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

When Mr. He was transferred from Tongcheng County Detention Center to the Fanjiatai Prison on May 3, 2021, he and two other practitioners, also in their 70s, were stripped naked and had their photos taken outside of the prison. After being admitted to prison, Mr. He was subjected to several torture methods, including being forced to stand or squat, starved, verbally abused, and locked in solitary confinement.

Mr. He was forced to attend brainwashing sessions every day and placed in a strict control team for five months. He was also forced to work without pay. As he was not proficient with the work and often couldn’t finish the daily quota, he was made to stand or squat every day. Humiliated, he often tried to hold back his tears but couldn’t at times.

Illustration: Forced labor in the prison

Another practitioner Mr. Zhang Jingzhou, 63, was sentenced to six years in Fanjiatai Prison in 2020. He has been held in the strict control team in prison since January 19, 2021, and has yet to be transferred to a regular ward.

Previous Persecution Details

Mr. He is a retired employee of Tongcheng County Oil Company. He used to suffer from various illnesses including gastritis, arthritis, and urinary stones. He tried both Chinese and Western medicine but to no avail. He regained his health after practicing Falun Gong in 1996. Amazed by his changes, his wife and father also took up the practice.

After the persecution started, the police monitored him, ransacked his home, withheld his salary, and arrested and detained him. He was held in brainwashing centers, given a 2.5-year labor camp term, and sentenced to 3.5 years in April 2003. His salary was withheld during his prison term.

Mr. He was putting up Falun Gong materials on May 31, 2015, when he was arrested. He was detained at Tongcheng County Detention Center. When he appeared in Tongcheng County Court on November 10, he maintained that he didn’t do anything wrong in practicing Falun Gong. His son also entered a not guilty for him as a family defender, but the judge cut him off just when he was about to start reading his defense statement.

In March 2017, two years after the hearing, judge Bi Yong together with agents from the 610 Office, police officers, and neighborhood committee officers broke into Mr. He’s home and arrested him. After a physical exam, he was taken to court and handed a two-year sentence.

As Mr. He was found to have persistent high blood pressure after several physical examinations, the doctor said that his life would be in danger if the police insisted on detaining him. He was released after his son was forced to be his guarantor.