(Minghui.org) Two Fushun City, Liaoning Province residents were each sentenced to 1.5 years and fined 5,000 yuan on March 21, 2023, for putting up posters that said “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a mind-body discipline with the core values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It was introduced to the public in May 1992 and soon attracted 70-100 million Chinese to practice it. Due to its popularity, the Chinese Communist Party ordered a nationwide persecution of Falun Dafa in July 1999, and the persecution remains unabated today.

Mr. Wang Xiuguo, a 56-year-old artist, and Ms. Sun Jing, 53, who just took up Falun Gong in 2020, were arrested on May 29, 2022, while putting up Falun Gong posters and distributing materials about Falun Gong’s health benefits. Mr. Wang’s cell phone and four debit cards were confiscated. They were both put on criminal detention at the Fushun City Detention Center.

The two practitioners’ families frequented the local police station to seek their release, only to be given a run-around. On July 4, 2022, police officer Wang Jing contacted the two families and ordered them to pick up the notices about the approval of their arrests. Mr. Wang’s 79-year-old father and Ms. Sun’s son went to the police station, but both refused to sign the notices.

Mr. Wang’s father and Ms. Sun’s son went to the Shuncheng District Procuratorate, demanding the dismissal of their cases, but to no avail. They hired lawyers to represent their loved ones around mid-July. When the lawyers visited the practitioners to learn about the status of their cases, the authorities told the lawyers that this would be the only time they were allowed to visit their clients.

The Shuncheng District Court held a hearing of the practitioners’ cases on November 25, 2022. They connected through a video call at the detention center, while their lawyers entered a not guilty plea for them in the courthouse. Ms. Sun’s son also read a defense statement arguing her innocence.

The judge announced the practitioners’ verdicts on March 21, 2023.

Mr. Wang’s Past Persecution, Mother Dies in Distress

Mr. Wang was previously arrested on April 25, 2009, and was sentenced to 7.5 years. He was taken to the New Admission Prison on November 18, 2009, and transferred to the Kangjiashan Prison after 20 days.

When he was released, he no longer had his own home. It is unclear though how he lost his home. He moved in with his parents and found a job at a nearby gallery.

Mr. Wang’s latest arrest in May 2022 dealt his 78-year-old mother a hard blow. She fell sick and was hospitalized. She passed away two months later on July 25, 2022, without seeing him for the last time.

Husband Tortured to Death, Ms. Sun Pulls Through Thanks to Falun Gong

Ms. Sun’s husband, Mr. Hu Guojian, developed a stomach tumor when he was only around 28 and their son was around two years old. As Mr. Hu struggled with the condition, Ms. Sun was under tremendous pressure to take care of the family.

In 1998, Mr. Hu was introduced to Falun Gong. Only a week later, the tumor disappeared. As he kept practicing, his overall health also improved. He ran a pastry processing factory with Ms. Sun and enjoyed good business.

For attending a Falun Gong practitioners’ gathering, Mr. Hu was arrested in December 2000 and sentenced to ten years on September 6, 2001. By the time he was released on December 16, 2010, he had been experiencing difficulty caring for himself and keeping his balance while walking, and his speech had become slurred.

After he recovered by practicing Falun Gong, he continued the effort to raise awareness about the persecution, only to be arrested again on July 7, 2015, while putting up Falun Gong posters. The Dongzhou District Court sentenced him to another four years on November 12, 2015. He was taken to the Benxi Prison on May 4, 2016. He later experienced slurred speech and impaired mobility, especially on the right side of his body. The prison, however, still forced him to work long hours every day without pay.

When Ms. Sun went to visit him on May 23, 2016, she was shocked to see that Mr. Hu had lost almost half of his weight, from over 90 kg to less than 50 kg. He told her that the inmates at the Nangou Detention Center tortured him and didn’t allow him to eat and sleep. He also placed his hand around his neck, adding that the inmates put him in a chokehold. The torture continued after he was taken to prison.

Three days after his wife’s visit, several inmates stripped Mr. Hu naked and doused him with cold water. That night he wasn’t allowed to sleep and was forced to sit on a small bench. He lost consciousness and fell off the bench. An inmate kicked him on the head and berated him, “Don’t you pretend to be fainting!” Mr. Hu didn’t move, and the inmates called in the guards on duty, who rushed him to the hospital. The doctor found he had a severe hemorrhage inside his brain.

The prison informed Ms. Sun of Mr. Hu’s condition early the next morning. She rushed to the hospital and agreed for the doctor to perform a craniotomy on him. He never regained consciousness. Even when he was in a coma, the guards still kept him shackled in the hospital bed.

On May 15, 2018, after remaining in a vegetable state for two years, Mr. Hu passed away.

Mr. Hu Guojian in a coma

Mr. Hu’s foot shackled to the bed

At the time of Mr. Hu’s passing, his and Ms. Sun’s son was already in college. While mourning Mr. Hu’s death, Ms. Sun still had to work to support their son’s college education. When her son finally graduated and found a job to support himself, Ms. Sun began to suffer severe physical and mental problems.

For three months in 2020, Ms. Sun couldn’t fall asleep and her mental state was extremely unstable. Her son had to quit his job and took her to various hospitals to seek treatment. One doctor told him that her sleep problem could be permanent.

Ms. Sun’s son recalled, “My mother was telling me every day she didn’t want to live anymore. She asked me to knock her out, so she could sleep for a while. I am her only child. But I couldn’t manage to care for her while still doing a full-time job. It was a really difficult time for both of us.”

With no hope left, Ms. Sun decided to practice Falun Gong in 2020. Not long after, she was able to enjoy normal sleep and her son also began to work again. Prior to her latest arrest and sentencing, she was arrested another time on February 27, 2022, and detained for ten days.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Liu Jun (刘军), president of Shuncheng District Court: +86-15641389507, +86-24-57567555Feng Yan (冯艳), judge of Shuncheng District Court: +86-18941369028, +86-24-57567539Xu Gang (徐刚), president of Shuncheng District Procuratorate: +86-24-57496333Wu Shuang (吴双), prosecutor of Shuncheng District Procuratorate: +86-24-57496398

Related report:

After Remaining Comatose for Two Years, Liaoning Man Dies While Imprisoned for His Faith