(Minghui.org) After the local intermediate court ruled to uphold Mr. Dai Chuanyi’s 5.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong, the Chongren County, Jiangxi Province resident was taken to Yuzhang Prison on March 15, 2021, to serve time.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Dai, 54, was arrested on July 22, 2020, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. The police ransacked his store and two residences, confiscating his laptop and other belongings. His wife was also arrested and interrogated.
After Mr. Dai’s family hired a lawyer for him, the police intimidated his family and investigated whether they also practiced Falun Gong. The authorities also prevented his lawyer from visiting him at the Fuzhou City Detention Center, using the pandemic as an excuse.
Mr. Dai was tried through a video conference by the Linchuan District Court on November 19, 2020. His lawyer and family members were only allowed to see him on a small cellphone screen in the courtroom.
Despite frequent interruption from the judge, Mr. Dai’s lawyer finished his defense argument and demanded his acquittal. The lawyer said that no law criminalizes Falun Gong in China. He said Mr. Dai only distributed information to raise awareness of his faith and urge people to be good, which didn’t harm anyone in society. On the contrary, he said it was the police that broke the law in ransacking Mr. Dai’s residences without a proper warrant.
The judge sentenced Mr. Dai to 5.5 years in prison on charges of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used by Chinese courts to imprison Falun Gong practitioners.
Mr. Dai appealed the verdict to the Fuzhou City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold the original sentence on February 7, 2021, without the presence of himself or his lawyer.
This is the second time Mr. Dai has been sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Gong. He was previously given three years in 2008 and suffered various torture methods at the same Yuzhang Prison.
Related report:
Once Imprisoned and Fired for His Faith, Store Owner Arrested and Detained Again
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Category: Accounts of Persecution
