Arrested For Reading Falun Dafa Books, 70-Year-old Man Tried Three Times

(Minghui.org) When 70-year-old Wang Changshou was reading Falun Dafa books with friends on the evening of July 22, 2015, police broke into his home and arrested him. He has since been put on trial three times.

The third hearing against Mr. Wang was held at the Tanggu Trial Division of Binhai District Court (formerly Tanggu District Court) on March 5, 2016. He was charged with having several Falun Dafa books in his home. His lawyer pleaded his innocence and requested an immediate release. The entire hearing only lasted about an hour.

Mr. Wang's wife, Ms. Ran Guanquan, was arrested on September 3, 2014, and sentenced to three and a half years in prison in April 2015. The couple are now both unjustly incarcerated because of their belief.

Previous Trials

Mr. Wang was put on trial at the Tanggu Trial Division on the morning of December 11, 2015. When his defense lawyer pointed out that the trial should not continue since a court clerk was not present, the judge reluctantly suspended the trial.

Mr. Wang was placed on trial again on the morning of January 6, 2016. He refuted all the prosecutor's charges. His defense lawyer pleaded not-guilty on his behalf, and pointed out that it was not a crime to read Falun Dafa books, and that a citizen has the legal right to bring a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin. Since he didn't commit any crimes, he should be released with no charges.

During the final statement, Mr. Wang told those present in the courtroom how he began practicing Falun Dafa. At first, he believed the media propaganda and refused to follow his wife's suggestion to try the practice for himself. He witnessed how his wife recovered from multiple diseases after she began practicing Falun Dafa, while he was tormented by several incurable diseases. He finally decided to practice, and was soon free of diseases. Why would he stop practicing? It is legal to practice Falun Dafa since no laws prohibit people from doing so. He was innocent and should be released. The trial ended without sentence.

Parties involved in persecuting Mr. Wang:Li Shengcun, prosecutor for Tanggu Procuratorate: [phone]Zhou Qingcun, trial judge, Tanggu Trial Division: [phone], [phone]