Once Incarcerated for 12 Years, 72-year-old Man Given Another Three years for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A Benxi City, Liaoning Province resident was recently sentenced to three years for his faith in Falun Gong. This is the second time that Mr. Zhang Guisheng has been sentenced, following a 12-year term in 2002, since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999.

Mr. Zhang, 72, was arrested at home on July 13, 2022. His two computers and a printer were confiscated. At least nine other local Falun Gong practitioners were also arrested that day.

The Nanfen District Procuratorate approved Mr. Zhang’s arrest on August 18. The prosecutor returned the case to the police twice, citing insufficient evidence. With the excuse that Mr. Zhang refused to renounce Falun Gong, prosecutor Qian Wenwen barred his family defender from visiting him or reviewing his case documents.

Mr. Zhang was indicted on November 18. While the Nanfen District Court agreed for his family defender to review his case documents on November 21, the Benxi City Detention Center rejected his visitation, citing the pandemic lockdown as an excuse.

The judge held a virtual hearing of Mr. Zhang’s case on December 8. His family defender demanded to postpone the session, but to no avail. Mr. Zhang was sentenced to three years with a 10,000-yuan fine on December 22. His family is trying to appeal on his behalf. But due to strict pandemic control, they are still not allowed to visit Mr. Zhang and unable to get his signature on the appeal document.

In addition to Mr. Zhang, another practitioner, Mr. Xu Shoufu, who was arrested on the same day, has been sentenced to one year on November 18 by the same Nanfen District Court.

Prior to Mr. Zhang’s latest sentencing, he was given 12 years by the Pingshan District Court in December 2002. He was deprived of sleep and subjected to excruciating hanging torture at Jinzhou Prison, which almost claimed his life.

Torture reenactment: Excruciating hanging torture