(Minghui.org) Mr. Sun Hongzhu’s family received a notice in July 2025 stating that he was admitted to the Jinan Prison in Shandong Province on June 25, 2025, to serve a seven-year prison term for his faith in Falun Gong.
Mr. Sun, a 73-year-old resident of Shouguang City, Shandong Province, was arrested on November 9, 2024, by agents from the Shouguang City Domestic Security Office who had been following him.
The police accused Mr. Sun of using a cult to undermine law enforcement, a standard pretext used by the communist regime to frame Falun Gong practitioners. He was then issued a formal arrest warrant. After that, his family was never given any updates about his indictment, trial, or sentencing. They didn’t know about his wrongful conviction and prison admission until they received the prison notice.
Prior to this latest episode of persecution, Mr. Sun was repeatedly targeted for his faith.
Mr. Sun was given two years of forced labor in 2002 and brutally tortured at the Changle Labor Camp. He was released in 2004.
At around 4 p.m. on February 27, 2007, officer Wang Yunming from the Chengqu Police Station led a group of agents and raided Mr. Sun’s home. They confiscated his DVD player and tape recorder. When his family sought his release the next morning, the police station demanded 10,000 yuan in exchange.
His family returned to the police station in the afternoon and were allowed to see him. The police still refused to release him by that evening, when they had been holding him in custody for 26 hours. By law, the police must release a suspect after 24 hours or move them to a different facility. One officer said to the family, “We never have to worry about the law when it comes to Falun Gong cases. No one will take up your case if you dare to sue us.”
The police station notified Mr. Sun’s family on the night of February 29, 2007, that then-chief Nie Zuokun of the Shouguang City Police Department ordered to put Mr. Sun under criminal detention. He was then taken to the Shouguang City Detention Center. On March 31 that year, he was given one and a half years of forced labor.
Starting in May 2017, the Shouguang City Police Department took part in the nationwide “knocking on the door” campaign aimed to force every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s blacklist to renounce their faith. The police broke into the practitioners’ homes in broad daylight and videotaped their harassment or arrests of the law-abiding citizens.
Mr. Sun was also targeted when several police cars surrounded his home at around 5 a.m. on September 15, 2017. He managed to escape and was put on the wanted list. The police plastered his photo at local bus stations and train stations and promised a 60,000-yuan reward to anyone who reported him. They also installed surveillance cameras at his home.
Additionally, the police hired people to infiltrate the community of local Falun Gong practitioners. These spies pretended to be interested in learning about Falun Gong and collected intelligence for the police, who subsequently arrested more practitioners.
To avoid being arrested, Mr. Sun went into hiding for a period of time.