(Minghui.org) Mr. Tang Lirong of Deyang City, Sichuan Province, was recently secretly sentenced to four and a half years and fined 40,000 yuan for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Mr. Tang’s daughter, who currently resides in the U.S., is calling on the Chinese authorities to release him.
Mr. Tang Lirong’s daughter protesting in front of the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, California
Mr. Tang, around 60, was arrested at work on April 2, 2020. The police broke into his office, slapped him in the face, and handcuffed him. Both of his residences were ransacked that day. His ID and passport were confiscated. While ransacking his home, the police quickly showed him a search warrant, but they put it back without letting him read it.
Before releasing Mr. Tang under house arrest the next afternoon, the police took his photo and collected his fingerprints and a blood sample.
The police summoned Mr. Tang five times between April 20 and May 18. They attempted to find out more about another practitioner, Ms. Zhao Jie. The police also showed Mr. Tang a paper with over 20 English names and asked him who they were.
While they were interrogating him on April 27, 2020, the police called Mr. Tang’s daughter, Ms. Tang Rui, knowing that she also practices Falun Gong. They asked Ms. Tang what she was doing in the U.S. and what practitioners she knew. They said to Mr. Tang, “We can’t do anything to your daughter right now because she is in the U.S., but as soon as she comes back, we will arrest her.”
On February 8, 2023, Mr. Tang and two other Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Qian Shuju and Ms. Cai Shangyu, were summoned to the Jingyang District Court. When they arrived, they were taken to the hospital for physical exams and then to the local police department. A police officer surnamed Diao revealed that it was the court that ordered the police to arrest the practitioners before hearing their cases.
Mr. Tang was later secretly sentenced to four and a half years with a 40,000 yuan. The court never notified his family of the verdict, which an insider confirmed on February 20.
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