(Minghui.org) A Xianning City, Hubei Province resident was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan for practicing Falun Gong. He was taken to the Fanjiatai Prison on May 3, 2021 to serve time.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Hong Haihua, 64, was arrested at home on May 3, 2018. The Tongcheng County Court held three hearings of his case before announcing the lengthy verdict.
Prior to his latest term, Mr. Hong was arrested numerous times and served two three-year labor camp terms. His wife, Ms. Lu Xiuli, was also targeted for their shared faith in Falun Gong.
Multiple Arrests
Mr. Hong was arrested by Li Dacheng, the head of Shadui Police Station, on July 22, 1999, two days after the communist regime ordered the persecution, and detained for a few days.
The Tongcheng County Bureau of Industry and Commerce extorted 200 yuan from each local practitioner who ran their own businesses in September 1999. Mr. Hong and his wife were both targeted.
Mr. Hong was arrested again in July 2000 by officers Yang Xiong and Zhang Dinger of Tongcheng County Domestic Security Office. His home was ransacked. He was held at the Tongcheng County Detention Center for over four months and extorted of 6,000 yuan.
Mr. Hong was arrested by the same officer Yang in March 2001 and held in a brainwashing center for over ten days.
Only a few weeks after he was released, Yang and Zhang seized Mr. Hong and his wife at home in April 2001, ransacked their place, and took them to the detention center. The couple held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and were force fed. Mr. Hong was later transferred to a drug rehab center and held there for over eight months. Ms. Lu was kept in the detention center for over four months. They were extorted of a few thousand yuan.
Mr. Hong was arrested by Yang and Zhang again on January 8, 2004 at his family-owned store. His home was ransacked and he was detained for a month.
When Ms. Lu went to the Domestic Security Office to seek Mr. Hong’s release on January 30, 2004, she was shoved by the officer and dragged downstairs.
First Labor Camp Term
Mr. Hong’s sixth arrest was also made by Yang an Zhang, as well as Li Yingcan, on February 6, 2002. He was given a three-year term after four months of detention.
At the Shizishan Forced Labor Camp, a guard named Zhang Guoyou slapped him in the face and kicked him on the mouth. The swelling on his mouth took a long time to subside. On another occasion, Zhang pressed Mr. Hong against the wall and beat him on the back with a police baton.
When Mr. Hong was held in solitary confinement, Zhang ordered several inmates to beat him and smack him with heavy objects, in order to force him to renounce Falun Gong.
Two inmates once monitored Mr. Hong and didn’t allow him to sleep for days. He was beaten and verbally abused when he closed his eyes. For the next four months, he was allowed to sleep for only one hour every day, and was forced to sit on a small stool without moving or squat for the rest of the day.
Second Labor Camp Term
While Mr. Hong was released ahead of time, he was arrested again on October 23, 2004, again by Yang and Zhang. He was first held in a detention center for a few days, then taken to a brainwashing center in Wuhan, where he was detained for 40 days. On January 15, 2005, he was given a three-year term at the Shayang Forced Labor Camp.
The Shayang Forced Labor Camp used similar torture methods as those employed by the Shizishan Forced Labor Camp. Mr. Hong was also subjected to sleep deprivation, brainwashing, and solitary confinement. The guards once forced him to squat with one leg and then lifted his other leg forward. They beat him if he moved a little.
The guards sometimes beat him with bottles filled with water, which caused a lot of pain to him but didn’t cause visible external injuries. At other times, the guards wrapped him with a blanket, and he didn’t even know who beat him.
After the initial four months of intensive torture, Mr. Hong was forced to do unpaid labor, often working from dawn to late night. The guards didn’t allow him to sleep if he didn’t finish the quota for the day.
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