Sichuan Veteran Detained for Five Months and Counting for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A veteran in Miyi County, Sichuan Province has been detained for five months and is now facing indictment for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Luo Banglin, 39, served two years in the army in Tibet, between 2003 and 2005. He suffered high altitude sickness and struggled with poor health after finishing his service. He became unable to fall asleep and had a very low energy level. He later took up Falun Gong at the recommendation of a friend and regained his health. He started a mango farm and opened an online store to sell the fruits.

The police called Mr. Luo at 9 a.m. on March 15, 2022 and ordered him to go to the police station. Mr. Luo responded that he was harvesting tomatoes and would call them back at around noon.

The police went directly to Mr. Luo’s home at 10 a.m., but no one opened the door. They returned at 11 a.m. and still didn’t find Mr. Luo. They then went to his warehouse, where he was packing products for his customers. Seven officers held him to the ground, snatched his keys, and ransacked his home. His Falun Gong books, photos of Falun Gong’s founder, computer memory cards, cellphone, as well as the computer and printer he used for his business, were confiscated.

The police first took Mr. Luo to the Panlian Town Police Station for interrogation. He was taken to the Yanbian County Detention Center the next day, and in mid-April he was transferred to the Mianshawan Detention Center, where he has since been held.

The Miyi County Police Department delivered Mr. Luo’s arrest warrant to his wife, Ms. Hong Chuyan, on March 30. It was signed by Zhang Lin, the head of Miyi County Domestic Security Office, Zhu Tianpeng, the deputy head, and a police officer surnamed Mao.

A prosecutor from the Miyi County Procuratorate interviewed Mr. Luo at the detention center in late May and said they would recommend 3 or 3.5-year prison sentence for him.

While Ms. Hong urged prosecutor Hu Shouhua, who was in charge of her husband’s case, not to indict Mr. Luo, the prosecutor demanded that she not hire a lawyer for him.

Three days after Ms. Hong visited Mr. Luo on August 12, she received a call from Hu, who announced that she wasn’t allowed to visit Mr. Luo or correspond with him any longer, because she had been engaging in potential “collusion with the suspect.”

Ms. Hong is urging the prosecutor to dismiss Mr. Luo’s case. She argued that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China and that all Falun Gong practitioners are innocent for practicing their faith.

She also said, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are the most beautiful values of human nature, the core essence of universal values, and the highest realm of human morality. Abusing laws to persecute Falun Gong practitioners who are cultivating their minds and striving to become good people, is a serious violation of the law. It would be a true tragedy for the prosecutors and judges to sentence Falun Gong practitioners to prison, simply because of their faith.”

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Hu Shouhua (胡寿华), prosecutor of Miyi County Procuratorate: [phone]Zhang Lin (张林), head of Miyi County Domestic Security Office: [phone]Zhu Tianpeng (朱天鹏), deputy head of Miyi County Domestic Security Office: [phone]Xiong Yulan (熊玉兰), director of Miyi County 610 Office: [phone]Huang Shilin (黄仕林), head of Miyi County Court: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)