52-Year-Old Man Faces Trial for His Faith, Wife Forced to Sign and Fingerprint Blank Paper

(Minghui.org) A 52-year-old resident of Fushun City, Liaoning Province is facing trial for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. 

Mr. Lyu Qing was arrested outside his apartment building at 2 p.m. on October 19, 2023, by officers from the Dongzhou District Police Department and the Dongzhou Police Station. The police raided his home and took him to the Fushun City Detention Center (also known as Nangou Detention Center).

While Mr. Lyu was in detention, the police summoned his wife to the Dongzhou Police Station. She initially refused, but relented after captain Zhang Aiqun of the Dongzhou District Police Department threatened to list her as a “suspect” if she refused to be a “prosecution witness.”

Officer Nian Banghe videotaped the interrogation of Mr. Lyu’s wife. He held up a piece of paper and questioned her as to whether Mr. Lyu had printed it. But it was unclear what was on the paper or whether his wife responded to the question.

Captain Zhang and deputy captain Zhang Zhe, along with officer Meng Xianyu from the Dongzhou Police Station, ordered Mr. Lyu’s wife to sign and fingerprint four sheets of blank paper. Under pressure, she did as told.

Mr. Lyu’s wife hired a lawyer to represent him. The lawyer visited him in the detention center and learned that he had trouble falling sleep. His wife submitted a bail request to the Dongzhou District Procuratorate. Instead of releasing Mr. Lyu on bail, the procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant against him and indicted him at an unknown date. 

The case now rests with the Dongzhou District Court. Judge Zhang Yang ([phone], [phone]) is set to preside over his trial.

Previously Sentenced to Nearly 3 Years

Mr. Lyu works in the Second Petroleum Plant of Fushun Petrochemical Company. In his mid-20s, he contracted hepatitis B, which developed into severe cirrhosis of the liver. He became bad-tempered and irritable due to the torment of the disease. After he took up Falun Gong, all his symptoms disappeared and he became calmer and kinder. 

Mr. Lyu was visiting a married couple (both also Falun Gong practitioners), Mr. Li Mingyu and Ms. Liu Fengjuan, on July 21, 2016, when a group of officers from the Dongzhou District Police Department and the Fushun City Domestic Security Division broke in and blindfolded the trio. The police took them to the Fushun City Detention Center.

Mr. Lyu was sentenced to two years and eleven months with a 10,000-yuan fine in December 2018. He endured torture throughout his detention and sustained severe injuries. Even years after his prison release in June 2019, he still has not made a full recovery.