(Minghui.org) Mr. Guan Chenglin was admitted to prison in late November 2024, after the Shenyang City Intermediate Court in Liaoning Province ruled to uphold his original 7.5-year prison sentence. His family has filed a motion with the intermediate court to reconsider the ruling.
Mr. Guan Chenglin
Mr. Guan, a 70-year-old resident in Faku County (which is under the administration of Shenyang City), was arrested on August 29, 2023. The police targeted him after discovering that he had shared videos about his faith, Falun Gong, on Kuaishou, a popular short-form video platform in China.
During his court hearing on July 30, 2024, Mr. Guan said that he did not know how to create or edit videos himself and that all the videos he reposted were recommended by Kuaishou. Most of the videos were about prophecies, reincarnation stories, legends, and poems that advised people to be good. The other videos were about his faith, Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Even though no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, the Xinmin City Court sentenced Mr. Guan to 7.5 years with a 20,000 yuan fine on August 22, 2024. He filed an appeal one week later with the Shenyang City Intermediate Court, which ruled against him on October 28, 2024, without an open hearing. His son and daughter-in-law, who served as his non-lawyer defenders, weren’t allowed to photocopy or carbon-copy his case file. The judge also prohibited them from viewing the videos used as prosecution evidence against him, which weren’t played during his sentencing trial.
Mr. Guan’s family contacted the Xinmin City Detention Center on November 20, 2024, and a guard said that the Xinmin City Court had ordered on November 14 to transfer Mr. Guan to prison at an unknown date. The family asked to visit Mr. Guan at the detention center before his prison transfer, but the guard said the earliest available date would be in two weeks.
When the family called the detention center on November 29 to confirm the visitation date, the same guard said that Mr. Guan had already been admitted to prison, but without revealing the name of the prison. The balance on Mr. Guan’s commissary account at the detention center had also been set to zero.
The family called the Liaoning Province Prison Administration Bureau and confirmed that Mr. Guan is now at the 14th division of Shenyang City Second Prison. They called the prison and were told that the division was for newly admitted inmates; they wouldn’t be allowed to make cash deposits for him to buy daily necessities until one month later and the earliest visitation would be in three months.
Unable to obtain any information about Mr. Guan’s current situation, his loved ones worry whether he will be subjected to any torture or abuse in prison. To continue seeking justice for him, they filed a motion with the Shenyang City Intermediate Court on December 11, 2024, demanding an overturn of the appeals ruling and an acquittal of their loved one.
Related Reports:
Liaoning Man Loses Appeal Against 7.5-Year Sentence, Son Files Complaint Against Appeals Judge
70-Year-Old Man Sentenced to 7.5 Years for Sharing Videos on Social Media
70-Year-Old Liaoning Man Stands Trial for Practicing Falun Gong
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