(Minghui.org) Mr. Yang Shiyi, 60, from Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, was imprisoned for eight years for practicing Falun Gong. On January 14, 2013, he was illegally arrested again.
Ningxiang County police made the arrest and sent him to the Ningxiang County Detention Center, where Mr. Yang has been detained for over three months. His family has been to the detention center twice to request a visit and seek his release. They were turned away each time.
Mr. Yang and another practitioner, Mr. Liu Liyan, went to Daolin Town, Ningxiang County, on Mr. Liu’s motor tricycle to distribute informational materials about Falun Gong. Someone reported them to the police.
They were followed by officers from the Daolin Town Police Station, who subsequently took them into custody. Personnel from the Ningxiang County Domestic Security Division conducted several interrogations and threatened to sentence them to seven years of imprisonment.
Mr. Liu was released after 15 days, but the police impounded his motor tricycle, which he used to support his family. Mr. Yang was transferred to the Ningxiang County Detention Center by agents from the Xiangtan City 610 Office and Ningxiang County 610 Office.
Mr. Yang’s family has gone to the detention center twice since February 6, 2013, to request to see him and demand his immediate release. However, the detention center officials denied all of their requests without an explanation; they also claimed that higher-level authorities were planning to hand down a prison sentence.
Mr. Yang worked at the coal store of the Xiangtan Train Station. After he started practicing Falun Gong in 1997, he experienced improvements in both mind and body.
Mr. Yang’s mother is in her 90s and cannot take care of herself. Mr. Yang has always provided for her without complaint. After his wife divorced him 25 years ago, he never remarried and worked hard to support and take care of both his mother and his son, who has mental illness and cannot support himself. Despite financial hardship, he also offered support to others in need.
When the communist regime began persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, the coal store was closed down. Mr. Yang withdrew some of his earnings and went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. However, as soon as he arrived, the police arrested him and confiscated the 6,000 yuan he had on him.
Mr. Yang was arrested again in 2000. He was sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor because he refused to renounce his belief.
While detained in the Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp in Changsha City, he was subjected to brainwashing, forced labor and severe beatings, which caused serious physical and mental harm.
In March 2003, Mr. Yang was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. He was incarcerated at the Wangling Prison in You County, Zhuzhou City, and subjected to various tortures.
During that period, his ex-wife returned to his home and took the initiative to look after his mother and his son. She has since reconciled her relationship with Mr. Yang.