(Minghui.org) A trial court in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province has been slow in handling the retrial of a local man whom it sentenced to prison.
Mr. Li Yuxin was arrested on November 15, 2013 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. The local Chang’an District Court sentenced him to five years in prison on August 28, 2014.
Mr. Li filed an appeal on the grounds that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. Shijiangzhuang Intermediate Court ruled on August 14, 2015 to overturn the lower court’s verdict–citing insufficient evidence–and ordered a retrial.
It took the lower court more than one year to begin the retrial in December 2016, since which time the case has remained dormant.
Mr. Li’s lawyer accused the court of delaying the retrial purposefully and argues that his client should not be prosecuted for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Mr. Li remains at Shijiazhuang Second Detention Center, where he has been held since his arrest.
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