(Minghui.org) A Shanghai resident is facing trial for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Du Ting was arrested on September 26, 2019 for passing out informational materials about Falun Gong. The Putuo District Procuratorate indicted him and forwarded his case to the Putuo District Court on January 21, 2020.
Mr. Du’s lawyer visited him on January 19, 2020 and was told that he was hospitalized for holding a hunger strike. This was his second hospitalization since his arrest, for having a hunger strike.
As many cities imposed travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak, his lawyer is no longer able to travel to Shanghai to work on his case. The hospital and detention center suspended all visitation and the court is also closed to visitors.
Mr. Du’s family called the court and Procuratorate several times, but weren’t able to get updates about the case. They are very worried about his health. With no other channel to seek justice for their loved one, they wrote several letters to different agencies involved in his case, urging them to acquit Mr. Du.
Because of not renouncing his faith, Mr. Du was imprisoned in Tilanqiao Prison between 2001 and 2009. The guards shackled him naked on a bed in a spread-eagle position for almost four years. They kept a feeding tube in his stomach and had him relieve himself in the bed. He suffered pleural effusion, tuberculosis, and pneumonia, and almost died.
Related reports:
Two Shanghai Residents on Hunger Strike, Denied Visits by Their Lawyers
After Eight Years of Imprisonment, Mr. Du Ting from Shanghai Arrested Again
