(Minghui.org) A 60-year-old man in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province is currently on a hunger strike while serving a 3.5-year wrongful term for his faith in Falun Gong.
Mr. Luo Changyong was arrested on March 15, 2022, after the police suspected him of putting up self-adhesive stickers with information about Falun Gong. He was released on bail the next day. The police later submitted his case to the Xindu District Procuratorate.
Due to frequent harassment by the police and procuratorate workers, Mr. Luo went into hiding on May 15, 2023, only to be arrested three months later on August 21. He was admitted to the Xindu District Detention Center the next day.
During Mr. Luo’s hearing on May 28, 2024, the Xindu District Court moved him from a large courtroom to a small one and didn’t allow his family or friends to attend.
Mr. Luo pointed out that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China. His lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him and said the prosecutor failed to provide evidence showing that Mr. Luo actually put up stickers about Falun Gong; and even if he did, doing so didn’t harm anyone. He said it was Mr. Luo’s constitutional right to freedom of religion and expression to practice his faith and tell people about it.
Mr. Luo and his lawyer asked to have witnesses appear in court for cross examination, but none were produced. The presiding judge constantly interrupted Mr. Luo and his lawyer during their defense arguments and said, “Regarding the issue of Falun Gong, the higher-ups have made a solid decision. We have the obligation to stop you.” He adjourned the hearing shortly after.
The judge sentenced Mr. Luo to three and a half years with a 10,000-yuan fine on June 20, 2024. The verdict didn’t mention anything about his or his lawyer’s defense arguments.
Mr. Luo was later taken to Jiazhou Prison to serve time. He recently started a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention.
Jiazhou Prison has been used to incarcerate male Falun Gong practitioners in Sichuan Province since 2006. Practitioners are subjected to torture, including long hours of standing, electric shocks, and beatings. They are often given only seconds to eat a meal, and are forced to perform unpaid labor. Practitioners are not allowed to talk with one another and are ordered to write “thought reports” and guarantee statements to renounce their faith.
Those who refuse are placed under strict management. They have been sprayed with pepper water or tortured by other inmates. Inmates involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners are rewarded with term reductions. At least 25 practitioners have died as a result of torture at Jiazhou Prison, some in the prison and others shortly after they were released.
Mr. Luo used to work for the Agricultural Technology Center of the Xindu District Rural Development Bureau. He took up Falun Gong in 1996 and soon recovered from various ailments. After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution in 1999, Mr. Luo was repeatedly targeted for upholding his faith. He was sentenced to four years in 2001 and given another five-year term in 2009.
Related Reports:
Once Jailed for 9 Years, 59-Year-Old Sichuan Man Gets Another 3.5 Years on Fabricated Evidence
The True Facts Regarding the Persecution of Dafa Practitioners In Xindu County, Sichuan Province
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