(Minghui.org) A 76-year-old man in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, was sentenced to six months for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Mr. Chi Enhong was arrested at home on April 16, 2025, and admitted to the Fangjialan Detention Center the next day. The police later submitted his case to the Dadong District Procuratorate. He was sentenced to six months by the Dadong District Court on July 28 and is scheduled to be released on October 15.
The police also targeted Mr. Chi’s wife, Ms. Zhang Yuqing, 75, and threatened to give her a heavy sentence for “colluding with overseas forces,” because the police had received calls from Falun Gong practitioners outside of China demanding Mr. Chi’s release. Ms. Zhang, who was bedridden due to a medical condition, had uncontrollable spasms when the police came to interrogate her on June 16. The police relented and left.
Since the onset of the persecution in 1999, the couple have been repeatedly arrested and given forced labor camp terms for upholding their faith. Mr. Chi’s brother-in-law, Mr. Xu Dawei, was also targeted for practicing Falun Gong. He was tortured in Dongling Prison while serving an eight-year term. He died on February 16, 2009, only 13 days after he was released. He was 34.
Mr. Chi and Ms. Zhang were both given three-year forced labor camp terms in 2001. While they were being detained, their daughter had to care for one of her grandparents, who was over 80, deaf and mute, on her own.
The police continued to harass the couple after they were released, forcing them to live away from home. Mr. Chi’s employer suspended his pension payments, causing them tremendous financial difficulty as they moved frequently.
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