Liaoning Man Sentenced to Prison for His Faith in Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) After nearly one and a half years of detention, a Shenyang City, Liaoning Province resident was sentenced to two years and four months for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Liu Xianyong was arrested on July 22, 2021, while dining at a local restaurant. It happened that the police came to arrest another practitioner who worked at the restaurant, as well as her husband, who came to pick her up. The couple, Mr. Liu, and eleven other restaurant employees were all taken to a hotel for interrogation.

Mr. Liu was later transferred to the Faku County Detention Center. He was recently sentenced to prison by the Liaozhong District Court.

Past Persecution

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, Mr. Liu was detained in detention centers, brainwashing centers, and a forced labor camp for a total of four years, during which time he was subjected to various forms of torture, such as enduring electric shocks, beatings, starvation, and verbal abuse.

In addition to his persecution, his family was also implicated. His older brother’s wife had 4,415 yuan from the sale of grain confiscated from her in 2000. Her 4-year-old son was taken away, and someone else had to bail him out. This incident caused tremendous stress to Mr. Liu’s parents. The day after their grandson was seized by police, the elderly couple was petrified by three militiamen waiting by their door. Because of the shock, Mr. Liu’s father collapsed on the spot and suffered a massive stroke. He was paralyzed and bedridden for 10 years and died in 2010.

Prior to his latest arrest and sentencing, Mr. Liu was seized by the police on November 12, 2017, while distributing Falun Gong materials with three other practitioners. He held a hunger strike in protest and was on the verge of death. After he was released on bail, the police closely monitored him. They even began to live in his home two weeks before his court hearing scheduled for January 30, 2018.

While Mr. Liu escaped on January 28, 2018, he was arrested again three years later and sentenced.

Among the three other practitioners arrested with Mr. Liu in November 2017, Mr. Hu Lin was also released on bail due to his poor health. He was arrested again in 2019 and sentenced to two years. He died in the prison in February 2020. The other two practitioners, Ms. Guo Xuhong and Ms. Wang Tianwa, were each sentenced to one year with a 20,000 yuan fine in 2018.

Related reports:

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Two Liaoning Men Remain in Custody Two Months after Being Arrested for Their Faith

Three Liaoning Residents Detained Incommunicado

Beaten and Tortured in Custody, Shenyang Man Escapes House Arrest