(Minghui.org) A 71-year-old resident of Weifang City, Shandong Province, stood trial on August 23, 2024 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Zhu Tianfu’s trial was puzzling to his family as he had already been sentenced to three and a half years back in December 2022 for practicing Falun Gong. He was released after his wrongful conviction due to the local COVID-19 outbreak. To avoid being taken back into custody, he lived away from home but was arrested in nearby Zibo City in the same province on August 7, 2024.
The arresting officers from the Fangzi District Domestic Security Division in Weifang City initially told Mr. Zhu’s family that they took him back into custody to serve the 3.5-year term given in 2022.
On August 19, 2024, however, Mr. Zhu’s loved ones received a notice of his trial date from the Fangzi District Court, which sentenced him to 3.5 years in 2022 in the first place. They wrote a letter to the presiding judge explaining the illegality of the previous prison term but fell short of filing a formal appeal against the sentence.
During the new trial on August 23, 2024, the judge did not explain why Mr. Zhu was tried again when the 2022 conviction still stood from a legal procedure’s perspective. Mr. Zhu again testified in his own defense and reiterated that he broke no law in practicing Falun Gong.
Mr. Zhu was previously arrested on April 5, 2022, together with another practitioner, Mr. Ma Lichun, for talking to people about Falun Gong. The arresting officers from the Nanliu Police Station ransacked both mens’ homes and beat Mr. Zhu’s brother, who shared the residence with him. The younger Mr. Zhu had bruises around his eyes and on his face as a result of the beating.
Mr. Zhu and Mr. Ma were held at the police station overnight, with their hands cuffed behind their backs the entire time. They were released on bail the next afternoon. (Mr. Ma was arrested again on April 20, 2023, and sentenced to three years on July 18, 2023. He is now serving time in Shandong Province Prison.)
Two officers broke into Mr. Zhu’s home on April 10, 2022, and forced him to sign his case document. The police returned twice two days later to harass him, breaking into his home by scaling his neighbor’s fence the second time they returned. Mr. Zhu was arrested again on April 13, 2022, and held at the police station until 7 p.m.
To avoid further persecution, Mr. Zhu lived away from home to hide from the police, only to be arrested at his sister’s home on December 6, 2022, and taken to the Fangzi District Brainwashing Center.
Officer Liu Guangyong went to Mr. Zhu’s cell in the brainwashing center on the evening of December 8. He verbally abused him, his parents, and Falun Gong’s founder, while keeping him restrained in a metal chair. Liu also threatened to shoot Mr. Zhu to death if he dared to leave the brainwashing center.
The police submitted Mr. Zhu’s case to the Fangzi District Procuratorate on December 9, 2022. On December 23, Jiang Xiaohui, the head of the brainwashing center, told Mr. Zhu that he was scheduled to be tried that day. Jiang opened a virtual meeting on his phone and connected Mr. Zhu to the Fangzi District Court. A judge announced that Mr. Zhu was sentenced to 3.5 years after a 20-minute trial. Jiang deceived Mr. Zhu into signing the verdict and didn’t give him a hard copy. He was allowed to go home shortly after due to a local COVID-19 outbreak.
Officers from the Fangzi District Police Department took Mr. Zhu back into custody on August 7, 2024, and put him in the Weifang City Detention Center.
71-Year-Old Man Taken Back into Custody to Serve a 3.5-Year Term Handed Down in 2022