(Minghui.org) Mr. Jin Fuzhang, a Falun Gong practitioner in Yingkou City, is currently serving five years in prison for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. He had previously been imprisoned for three years shortly after the persecution began in July 1999.
Mr. Jin's latest arrest took place on June 28, 2016. Three other practitioners–Ms. Xue Chunfang, Ms. Gao Xiuhua, and Ms. Sun Shuqing–were seized on the same day.
The four Yingkou residents were tried separately by Xishi District Court over the course of two days, on April 27 and 28, 2017. They were all charged with “using a cult to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used by the Chinese communist regime to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners.
The practitioners' lawyer made non-guilty defenses for them and argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that the persecution has no legal basis.
Three of the practitioners were sentenced in July 2017, with Mr. Jin given 5 years, Ms. Xue 1 year with 1-year probation, and Ms. Sun 3 years with 1-year probation. Ms. Gao was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in March 2018.
Mr. Jin's latest arrest and subsequent detention were accompanied by violations of legal procedures by authorities.
Five officers broke into Mr. Jin's home and confiscated his Falun Gong books, computer, personal vehicle and other items. They did not show a search warrant as required by law.
The police submitted their cases to Xishi District Procuratorate in October 2016. The procuratorate soon accepted the cases and forwarded them to the court the following month.
Mr. Jin was detained at Yingkou City Detention Center after his arrest, where he was forced to polish aluminum foil without pay every day while being subjected to intensive brainwashing.
After he was admitted to Dalian Prison, he was forced to work without pay at the prison's clothing factory. The prison initially denied him family visits on the grounds that he refused to renounce his belief.
Mr. Jin still held firm to his faith, and the prison changed tactics by trying to make his family “work on him.” His 80-year-old mother, his wife, and his school-age son were granted a meeting with him, but they refused the authorities’ demands to try to persuade him to stop practicing Falun Gong.