(Minghui.org) A Beijing man has remained captive since he was arrested more than five months ago for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Mr. Li Zhenge's latest ordeal was preceded by a 3.5-year prison term that he served for his faith between 2005 and 2008. As no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, the Yanqing County, Beijing resident resumed his efforts to raise awareness of the illegal persecution after he was released from prison.
Mr. Li, in his 60s, was arrested again on March 14, 2018 after being reported to police for distributing Falun Gong related materials. Officers from Yongdinglu Police Station ransacked his residence after locating it through reviewing surveillance videos. They confiscated Mr. Li's Falun Gong books and several cell phones.
Mr. Li has since remained at Haidian District Detention Center. His family hired a lawyer to represent him after he was issued a formal arrest warrant in April 2018.
Officer Wang Ruida, who is in charge of the case, twice refused to meet with Mr. Li's family and lawyer. He relented the third time, but said that he was no longer in charge of the case, as it had been submitted to the local procuratorate. But Mr. Li's family later found out that Wang has been working actively to try to get him indicted.
In the persecution of Falun Gong, the police often work hand in glove with the procuratorate and court to sentence the practitioners to prison.
Mr. Li's family learned that the case against him was twice returned to police, but the latter submitted it a third time in recent weeks. It remains to be seen whether the procuratorate will accept the case on the police's third attempt.
Mr. Li was sentenced to 3.5 years in 2005 for not renouncing his faith. While he served his term at Qianjin Prison in Tianjin, his wife struggled to raise their two children and take care of their elderly parents. Years of hard work and tremendous mental pressure from the persecution took a toll on her health. She became bedridden not long after Mr. Li was released from prison in 2008 and passed away in October 2017.
Mr. Li was arrested again in March 2018, dealing another blow to his two children, who are still mourning their mother's passing.