(Minghui.org) A Dehui City, Jilin Province resident was sentenced to seven years on January 4, 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zheng Yuming, 67, and his wife were arrested by officers from the Dajiagou Police Station at their shoe shop on February 25, 2023. The police monitored the couple for three days before arresting them. They confiscated their three printers, two computers, and many Falun Gong books. Mr. Zheng was held at the Dehui City Detention Center but his wife was released.
In addition to the couple, 13 other practitioners in Dehui City were arrested on the same day. Four of them were sentenced to prison in August 2023: Ms. Su Cuizhi was given seven years, Ms. Xie Yunxiang was sentenced to five years, Mr. Liu Zhongrong was sentenced to three and a half years and Ms. Wang Guiying was sentenced to ten months.
Mr. Zheng was sentenced months later by the Dehui City Court and taken to the Jilin Province Prison to serve time, at the time of this report.
Mr. Zheng’s Past Persecution
Before Mr. Zheng’s latest sentencing, he was arrested three times and served two labor camp terms for a total of four years for practicing Falun Gong.
He went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong, and was arrested and detained for 40 days.
He was arrested again when he returned to Beijing in 2000 to appeal and was given one year of forced labor.
Several officers showed up at Mr. Zheng’s store in March 2003 and questioned him, asking whether he still practiced Falun Gong. When he said “Yes,” they arrested him and detained him for another 40 days, before giving him three years at the Jiutai Forced Labor Camp.
While serving time, Mr. Zheng was forced to work for long hours without pay, even after he suffered a heart attack due to the abuse. When he returned to his cell in the evening, he was forced to sit on a small stool and watch propaganda videos smearing Falun Gong. His use of the restroom was highly restricted. The two inmates assigned to monitor him beat and verbally abused him at will.
Because no one managed his shoe shop while he was in the labor camp, his shop suffered a financial loss of over 100,000 yuan.
The police harassed Mr. Zheng several times in the past few years before arresting him again in February 2023.
Related Reports:
Dehui City, Jilin Province: 15 Arrested in One Day, 4 Sentenced to Prison
Arrested in a Police Sweep, Shoe Shop Owner Faces Prosecution for His Faith
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