Hebei Man Secretly Sentenced to Prison Again for His Faith

(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old resident of Xinji City, Hebei Province was secretly sentenced to a five-year prison term following his arrest around October 2021 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Mr. Li Kuncai was admitted to Division One of the Jidong Branch Fourth Prison on May 17, 2023.

Jidong Branch, founded in 1956 and formerly known as Hebei Province First Labor Camp (1956-1995) and Jidong Prison (1995-2011), oversees eight prisons and is the largest prison facility in Hebei Province.

This was not the first time Mr. Li was sentenced for his faith. He rode his bike to Beijing (about 180 miles away) to appeal for Falun Gong shortly after the persecution began on July 20, 1999, and was subsequently targeted for persecution.

He was arrested by the Ningjin County 610 Office on September 8, 2007, and held at various facilities during the next four and a half months, including Ningjin County Detention Center, Xingtai City Brainwashing Center, Tianjiazhuang Township Police Station in Xinji city, the Xinji City 610 Office, Xinji City Detention Center, and the Hebei Province Legal Education Center in the capital city of Shijiazhuang. He was released on January 26, 2008.

He was arrested again a few months later, on July 20, before the 2008 Summer Olympics. Li Jianhua and a few other officers from the Tianjiazhuang Township Police Station also confiscated Falun Gong informational materials from his home, before taking him to Xinji City Detention Center.

The local court sentenced Mr. Li to a four-year prison term without his family’s knowledge in late March 2009. He was admitted to Team One of the then-Jidong Prison. His family found out about his prison sentence only after a prison guard called them, asking them to deposit money and deliver clothes to him. They went to the prison on April 12, 2009, but were denied visitation. The prison also refused to accept the money and clothes they brought with them, asking them to mail the items in instead.

The prison intensified the persecution of jailed Falun Gong practitioners in late 2010. Xia Lian, vice head of education section, didn’t allow Mr. Li to sleep, and forced him to stand for more than 16 hours daily, causing his legs to become swollen as a result. He was only allowed to sit for a short while during meal times. Xia also ordered inmates to abuse Mr. Li in attempts to make him renounce Falun Gong. The inmates sprayed cold water onto his jacket in the deep winter.

Mr. Li was scheduled to be released on July 19, 2012, but the Tianzhuang Township 610 Office and Xiliuzhuang Village officials picked him up before his family arrived, and took him straight to the Hebei Province Legal Education Center in Shijiazhuang. It is unclear how long he was held there.

Mr. Li was arrested again in spring 2020, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. Agents from the Tianjiazhuang Township Police Station tried twice to get the Xinji City Detention Center to admit him, but he was rejected each time due to elevated body temperature. The police released him but ordered him to report to the police station once every week. He fled his home a few weeks later to avoid further persecution. The police subsequently put him on the wanted list.

The Tianjiazhuang Township Police Station tracked him down and arrested him in Jinzhou City around October 2021. He was taken to the Xinji City Detention Center. His family learned from an insider recently that he had been sentenced to a five-year term, possibly by the Xinji City Court. He was transferred to Jidong Branch Fourth Prison on May 17. 2023.