(Minghui.org) A Yantai City resident was tried on December 2 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Mr. Liu Haikuan used to be a company executive in a northeastern city, but he was fired for his belief in Falun Gong. He and his wife moved to Yantai to live with his son’s family.
The Liu family noticed two plainclothes officers staking out their apartment building in January 2016. The police then showed up at Mr. Liu’s son’s family business on January 28. The younger Mr. Liu was not in, and the police proceeded to his home to arrest his father.
During the trial in Kaifa District Court, the elder Mr. Liu’s lawyer argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that his client should never have been prosecuted for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief.
The lawyer further argued that the computers, printers, and display boards bearing Falun Gong messages confiscated from Mr. Liu’s home were his lawful possessions and caused no harm to anyone or society at large. As such, those items should not be used as evidence for the prosecution.
The judge adjourned the session without issuing a verdict. Mr. Liu remains in Yantai City Second Detention Center.
