(Minghui.org) A 55-year-old man from Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, was arrested in Taiyuan City, the capital of Shanxi about 20 miles away, in early November 2023 for refusing to give up his faith in Falun Gong. Mr. Han Laiqing has been held in the Gujiao Detention Center in Taiyuan ever since. Other details about his current status aren’t clear.

After the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual discipline, in 1999, Mr. Han was repeatedly targeted for his faith. He was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2001 and four years in 2013. Just six months before his latest arrest, he was seized by the police on May 6, 2023, and detained at the Jinzhong City Brainwashing Center for over two months.

First Prison Sentence of Nine Years

Mr. Han went with his wife Ms. Guo Jinxian and another practitioners Mr. Li Hailin to put up Falun Gong posters in December 2001. They were reported to the police and arrested. Mr. Han was later sentenced to nine years, Mr. Li to seven years, and Ms. Guo to four years.

While being held in the local detention center, Mr. Han was beaten twice by the inmates and handcuffed behind his back once.

Torture illustration: Handcuffed behind the back

Mr. Han was transferred to Jinzhong Prison in September 2003. Because he refused to plead guilty or wear the inmates’ uniform, the guards instigated six inmates to beat him. He was covered in bruises, especially on his chest and legs. He had tremendous difficulty breathing and walking.

Because Mr. Han remained firm in his faith, head inmate Yao Hongwu hit him with a wooden plank on his back and calves so hard that the plank broke. He then whipped Mr. Han with a leather belt, severely injuring his back. Mr. Han felt very dizzy, kept vomiting, and couldn’t turn over in bed. Yao hit him on the face, and his nose and mouth bled and a tooth fell out.

On July 20, 2004, the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the persecution, guard Zhang Feng held Mr. Han and another practitioner Mr. Zhao Haizhong in solitary confinement and forced them to stand facing the wall for nearly five days.

Mr. Han refused to participate in an annual exam in 2009, so the inmates beat him, targeting his lower abdomen. He vomited blood and struggled to get up. For a few days after that, the guards forced him to stand from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

After Mr. Han was taken back to the cell, inmate Quan Yongjun hung him up by his wrists to the upper bunk bed with his feet off the ground for four days. Due to the excruciating pain, Mr. Han protested by hitting his head against the bed. The guards let him down but continued to force him to stand for long hours each day.

Inmates Quan, Yu Tao, Ning Xinchun, and Zhang Xiaojun later took Mr. Han to a food storage warehouse to torture him. They handcuffed him behind his back, pressed his head against the ground, inserted needles into his nails, and burned his fingers. This round of torture lasted 18 days.

Torture reenactment: Inserting needles into nails

Second Prison Sentence of Four Years

Mr. Han was arrested again on November 18, 2012, and held in the Taiyuan City Second Detention Center. The Xinghualing District Court in Taiyuan sentenced him to four years on May 8, 2013.

After Mr. Han filed an appeal with the Taiyuan City Intermediate Court, his wife Ms. Guo urged appeals judge Zhang Yongming to overturn her husband’s wrongful conviction. She said the trial judge abused the law in sentencing her husband. Zhang responded, “It’s not that serious. He is just jailed for a few years.”

Zhang ruled to uphold Mr. Han’s original verdict three months later. He was transferred to the Jinzhong Prison on September 17, 2013.

Related Report:

Mr. Han Laiqing Arrested Again After Having Suffered Nine Years of Detention