(Minghui.org)

Name: Hao ShuhengChinese Name: 郝树衡Gender: MaleAge: unknownCity: Wu’anProvince: HebeiOccupation: unknownDate of Death: May 26, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: late 2001Most Recent Place of Detention: unknown

A Wu’an City, Hebei Province, resident died on May 26, 2023, after years of persecution for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Mr. Hao Shuheng was arrested on September 12, 2001, two days after he was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. The arresting officers from the Huoshui Township Police Station and the Wu’an City Police Department took him to the Wu’an City Detention Center. The guards there forced him to wear shackles weighing almost 30 pounds, causing his feet to bleed.

About two months later, the Wu’an City Police Department gave Mr. Hao one year of forced labor and transferred him to the Handan City Labor Camp. He refused to renounce Falun Gong, and the labor camp guards tortured him using various means. They punched and kicked him, and also used various objects, including triangle belts and wooden clubs, to whip him. They shocked him on the mouth with an electric baton. Mr. Hao was left with bruises all over his body.

Mr. Hao was released in late 2002, but still faced relentless pressure to renounce Falun Gong. He died in 2023. His age remains to be investigated.

Son Sentenced to Three Years

Mr. Hao’s son, Mr. Hao Hucheng, 37, is still serving three years for practicing Falun Gong. The Jidong Prison in Hebei Province has denied him all forms of communication with his family, including phone calls and in-person visits.

Mr. Hao Hucheng, who worked as an air-conditioner repairman in Beijing, sent a greeting video to the overseas media Epoch Times via social media WeChat during the Chinese New Year in February 2021. The Beijing police soon discovered that he did it, through their tracking system.

The Beijing police contacted Mr. Hao on February 17, 2021. As he was in his hometown celebrating the New Year with his family, the Beijing police ordered officers of Huoshui Township Police Station in Wu’an City to monitor him. The Wu’an police gave him 15 days of detention, but didn’t execute it, as Mr. Hao demanded to hire a lawyer. He returned to Beijing weeks later.

The Beijing police located Mr. Hao while he was driving on the evening of April 22, 2021. The police searched his car and found 1,000 pieces of five-yuan paper currency printed with information about Falun Gong. Due to strict information censorship, Falun Gong practitioners use creative ways such as this to raise awareness about the persecution.

The police then searched Mr. Hao’s residence and confiscated his cellphone and bank deposit notes. He was taken to the Changping District Detention Center that night. It was reported that officers from the Qiliqu Police Station arrested him.

Mr. Hao was tried by the Changping District Court in the detention center on January 20, 2022. The judge sentenced him to three years in early April 2022 with an unknown amount of court fine. He was ordered to serve time at the Jidong Prison in his home province of Hebei.

This is the second time that Mr. Hao has been sentenced. He was previously arrested in 2007 for talking to people about Falun Gong while working in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. He was later sentenced to two years and three months by the Ningbo City Court.

Related Report:

Beijing Resident Sentenced to Three Years for Sending Video Clip to Overseas Media