(Minghui.org) Mr. Zhao Yungu, 86, from Bin County, Heilongjiang Province, was recently sentenced to 3.5 years and fined 30,000 yuan for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Mr. Zhao is now appealing the verdict.
Mr. Zhao, a retired small tractor factory worker, and his wife, Ms. Liu Shumei, a former business professional, have both been repeatedly targeted in the past 25 years for practicing Falun Gong. Both of them previously served two one-year labor camp terms and a seven-year prison term. Ms. Liu developed a serious medical condition due to the pressure from the persecution, yet the police continued to harass her regularly. She was 77 when she passed away in May 2019.
Mr. Zhao’s latest arrest took place around 7 a.m. on July 31, 2023 when he walked outside his apartment building. Five officers from the Bin County Police Department who were staked out there, seized him and took him to a hospital for a physical examination. Due to his poor health, the local detention center refused to admit him. The police released him on bail in the early morning hours of August 1, 2023.
An officer from the Xicheng Police Station and a prosecutor from the Yilan County Procuratorate came to Mr. Zhao’s home on November 29, 2023. They told him that a decision would be made in two months if his arrest were approved and he would be indicted.
Two days later, on December 1, the police submitted Mr. Zhao’s case to the procuratorate, which then decided not to approve his arrest.
The Bin County Police Station put Mr. Zhao on house arrest on January 30, 2024. He was taken to the Yilan County Procuratorate on July 4, 2024 but was allowed to go home later that day. It’s not clear whether he was ordered to sign any case documents at the procuratorate.
The Yilan County Procuratorate indicted Mr. Zhao on July 6 and the Yilan County Court extended his house arrest by six months on July 27.
The judge held a hearing of Mr. Zhao’s case at his home on August 16. He was sentenced shortly afterward. It’s not clear whether the judge ordered Mr. Zhao to be taken back into custody to serve time.
Two Previous Labor Camp Terms and a Prison Term
Mr. Zhao and his wife Ms. Liu were arrested on February 19, 2000 and detained at the Bin County Second Detention Center for 29 days. The police seized them again in June 2000 and held them at the Bin County Second Detention Center for 35 days.
As soon as they were released, they set off to Beijing to appeal, but were arrested on July 18, 2000. They were taken back to Bin County and were each given one year at the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp.
Although they were released early, the police arrested them again on May 23, 2001 during a sweep. They were both given another year of forced labor. Mr. Zhao was taken to the Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp and Ms. Liu was taken to the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp.
The couple was arrested another time on June 23, 2011. The police confiscated a large amount of personal items and more than 100,000 yuan in cash from their home. Mr. Zhao was sent to the Bin County First Detention Center and Ms. Liu was sent to the Harbin City Second Detention Center.
The Bin County Court sentenced each of them to seven years in December 2011. Mr. Zhao was taken to the Hulan Prison on February 22, 2012 and later transferred to the Daqing Prison. He was released on August 22, 2017.
Due to her high blood pressure, Ms. Liu was released on bail. The police and court bailiffs came to harass her from time to time. They demanded that she have have regular physical examinations and threatened to take her back into custody once she recovered. The mental distress took a toll on her health. She passed away in May 2019 at the age of 77.
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