(Minghui.org) “Given your age, we'll release you if you sign the repentance statement” [promising to stop practicing Falun Gong], the judge told 70-year-old Mr. Zhou Chuanye at his trial.
Mr. Zhou, who is from Dalian, was arrested on April 22, 2014, for practicing Falun Gong. He was tried on October 31, 2014, at Shahekou District Court. Because he hadn't broken any laws, Mr. Zhou did not sign the statement renouncing Falun Gong. He instead challenged the indictment, and told the court that Falun Gong is great. The judge abruptly ended the trial.
Mr. Zhou was sentenced to three years in prison three weeks later, on November 21, 2014. He was taken to a brainwashing center at the Nanguanling Prison Management Bureau on December 17, then to the Dongling Prison in Shenyang City one month later on January 20, 2015.
Someone knocked on Mr. Zhou's door in the early morning hours of April 22, 2014. The person claimed that he came to fix the plumbing. However, as soon as Mr. Zhou opened the door, a group of plainclothes officers pushed their way in. They ransacked the place, and confiscated Falun Gong lecture books and exercise DVDs. Mr. Zhou was taken to the Kunming Street Police Station.
When Mr. Zhou was interrogated at the police station the officers tried to trap him into making a confession. Mr. Zhou insisted that he did nothing illegal, and that Falun Gong teaches him to be a good person.
Mr. Zhou was later taken to the Yaojia Detention Center.