(Minghui.org) A 69-year-old resident of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province was admitted to the Shenyang City First Prison on January 13, 2024 to serve a one-year term for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Shi Zhenduo was sentenced to one year with one year probation in August 2022. After his probation ended, the authorities ordered him to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. He refused to comply, as no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. The Chang’an Police Station then arrested him on November 22, 2023. The Yuhong District Court ruled two days later to have him serve the one-year term given in August 2022, even though by law he no longer needed to do time since he never violated probation.
Mr. Shi was transferred from the Yuhong District Detention Center to the Shenyang City First Prison on January 23, 2024. He has since been denied family visits at the prison.
Mr. Shi’s wife, also a Falun Gong practitioner, died years ago as a result of the persecution. Their daughter was in high school when the persecution began. The once bright and bubbly teen was so traumatized by her parents’ arrests that she developed mental illnesses. She remains incapacitated and has no one to care for her now that her father is in jail.
Taking up Falun Gong
Mr. Shi used to work as an engineer in Chengde City, Hebei Province. He had a workplace accident in 1993 and sustained severe back injuries. No medical treatments worked. He had to wear a back brace all the time and needed help with daily activities, such as washing his hair. He was devastated that he became disabled at 38 years old and lost hope in life.
His fate changed in 1996 when he took up Falun Gong. He recovered in just a few weeks and never needed to seek medical care again. He returned to work and invented several new products for his company in the years that followed. The new products were innovative and saved his company hundreds of thousands of yuan in raw material costs every year.
Mr. Shi later quit his job and moved back to his hometown in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province to care for his aging parents. He found a new job and made significant contributions at work.
During the pandemic, Mr. Shi was hit by a car and sustained injuries. After staying in bed for ten days, he was able to get up and do Falun Gong exercises. He soon made a full recovery.
Mr. Shi’s wife and daughter also joined him in practicing Falun Gong later on. His daughter became very bright, outgoing, and kind. During the last period of study hall every day, she was surrounded by classmates who asked her for help with homework questions. She later got admitted to the best high school in Shenyang City. She continued to excel academically and earned admiration from her peers.
Mr. Shi’s mother took up Falun Gong, as well. She also recovered from her illnesses and even grew a new tooth in her 70s.
Daughter Driven Insane
After the persecution began, Mr. Shi and his wife went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in September 1999. They were both arrested and detained for more than one month. Together they were fined a total of 6,000 yuan.
After the couple were released and returned to Shenyang, they found that their once bubbly daughter was no longer herself. The teen appeared restless and cried a lot. She had mood swings and struggled to keep up with her school work.
In July 2000, the police arrested Mr. Shi’s wife at home in front of their daughter. His wife refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong and was detained for more than one month. She was also fined 3,000 yuan. The couple’s daughter, who had improved somewhat at the time, was so traumatized that she had to take a medical leave from school.
Mr. Shi’s wife was arrested at work in July 2001 and given three years of forced labor. Their daughter, who was with her mother at the time of the latter’s arrest, could not cope and tried to end her life by jumping off high-rise buildings and slamming her head against the wall. When she went out, she didn’t know the way back home. In the years that followed, she was in and out of mental hospitals numerous times. Her parents’ hearts were bleeding, as the persecution had ruined their daughter’s life.
The passing of Mr. Shi’s wife dealt yet another blow to their daughter, who remains incapacitated to this day.
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