(Minghui.org) Mr. Yao Lishu, of Qingcheng County, Gansu Province, was recently sentenced to six years in prison for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
It was also confirmed by Minghui.org that Mr. Yao, 43, was tried together with another Qingcheng resident, who was also sentenced.
Ms. Zhang Ping, a 61-year-old former postal worker, was arrested on November 22, 2021, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong in nearby Zhenyuan County. Mr. Yao was soon targeted too because he was found to have supplied the materials to Ms. Zhang. It is unclear when he was arrested.
Mr. Yao and Ms. Zhang appeared in a virtual hearing held by the Zhenyuan County Court in May 2023. Mr. Yao’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him and demanded his acquittal. The presiding judge sentenced both practitioners to six years in prison. Mr. Yao has filed an appeal.
This is not the first time that Mr. Yao has been targeted for his faith. He became a middle school teacher after graduating college. He was arrested in his school dorm on July 11, 2008, by more than a dozen officers from Qingyang City Police Department, Qingyang City Domestic Security Office, and Qingcheng County Police Department. They confiscated his Falun Gong books, MP3 player, laptop, and two copies of Minghui Weekly. He was then taken to the Huan County Detention Center, where he was brutally beaten.
Huan County, Qingcheng County, and Zhenyuan County are all under the administration of Qingyang City.
Mr. Yao was indicted by Qingcheng County Procuratorate and tried by Qingcheng County Court at the end of March 2009. The prosecution evidence included the articles he posted online exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. He was later sentenced to four years and transferred to Tianshui Prison on April 9, 2009.
During the first few months of his prison admission, Ms. Yao was held at the Newcomers’ Team. He was forced to watch TV programs slandering Falun Gong, recite prison rules, participate in physical exercises, or do unpaid labor. The guards also ordered him to write one thought report every month. An inmate was assigned to monitor his every move. He was not allowed to do Falun Gong exercises or talk to other jailed practitioners.
Liu Jiangtao, the deputy head of the “Anti-cult Division” in the prison, personally “worked” on Mr. Yao in an attempt to make him renounce Falun Gong. Liu forced him to sit on a small bench from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. every day for three consecutive days, during which time the guards also shocked him with electric batons, beat him, and verbally abused him.
Mr. Yao was moved to Team One of Division One a few months later. He was forced to do unpaid labor in the workshop. The work he did included pushing carts filled with heavy loads of metal, transporting charcoal, smashing stones, inspecting the quality of clothes produced by other inmates, and cleaning the prison.
After Mr. Yao was released, he learned that his school had suspended his pay beginning January 2010. They refused to reinstate his job and referred him to the human resources department of the local education bureau. The latter said those who served prison sentences could not have their jobs reinstated.
Mr. Yao was making 2,000 yuan per month before his arrest in 2008. The financial loss from his job termination is at least 322,000 yuan without factoring in annual pay raise (2,000 yuan per month for 161 months from January 2010 to May 2023).
Related Reports:
Gansu Woman Secretly Sentenced to Six Years for Distributing Information about Her Faith
Over Thirty Practitioners Held in Tianshui Prison, Gansu Province
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