(Minghui.org) Mr. Zheng Jingxian was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison by the Haizhu District Court on December 30, 2016, for blogging about the persecution of Falun Gong. He is appealing the verdict.
Mr. Zheng, 31, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Guangzhou City. He was arrested on February 3, 2015, and taken to the Nanzhou Detention Center.
Scheduled to be released on March 13, 2015, he was instead secretly transferred to the Tangang Brainwashing Center on that day. He was held there for three months before being taken to the Nanzhou Detention Center on June 12, 2015.
Mr. Zheng was tried on April 19, 2016, by the Haizhu District Court.
His mother, Ms. Ruan Mei, wrote an open letter in February 2015, asking for the release of her son. Officers from the Guangzhou Domestic Security Division went to her home and threatened her and her family.
Statements Reflecting Unlawful Arrests
Mr. Zheng wrote a statement while in detention, which was published on an overseas website on December 10, 2015.
The statement included, “I'm hoping that international society will pay attention to Falun Gong practitioners in China and to the persecution that has been going on for 16 years. Please help stop these severe human rights violations.”
He also wrote a statement in December 2016 while in the detention center, “We should strive to pursue fairness and justice persistently. That way, our next generation can live in a free society, where morality is high, people follow the rule of law, and live free of terror. Everyone should have freedom of personal belief, read the books he or she wants to read, visit any website, and be able to freely do the Falun Gong exercises in the parks.”
