Hebei Man Sentenced to Prison for His Faith

(Minghui.org) A Xingtai City, Hebei Province resident was sentenced to 4.5 years in early September 2021 for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Zheng Mengkan, head of the Guangsong County Domestic Security Office, broke into Mr. Yan Xiuhong’s home on August 24, 2017. Although Mr. Yan escaped, his Falun Gong books, computer, printer, 30,000 yuan in cash, three debit cards and a deposit slip were confiscated.

After living away from home for three years, Mr. Yan was arrested on October 29, 2020, after the police located his temporary residence through long-term surveillance. The police beat him during the arrest, injuring his head and legs. Over 30,000 yuan in cash, his electric bike and motorcycle were confiscated. Yet the police claimed they only took 20,000 yuan from him.

Mr. Yan’s family repeatedly went to the local police station to demand the return of the confiscated items. The police returned around 12,000 yuan in cash and withheld 8,000 yuan as a so-called “policing fee.” They also refused to explain the 10,000-yuan discrepancy in the cash confiscated.

When Mr. Yan’s family demanded that officer Zheng release him, Zheng demanded 30,000 yuan in exchange and also ordered Mr. Yan to write a statement renouncing Falun Gong. 

Mr. Yan’s arrest was approved on November 12, 2020 and he was indicted on December 24. Since December 2020, his family and lawyer have been denied visits every time they went to the Guangzong County Detention Center. The excuse given was that the detention center's visitation system was broken and they were unable to process visitation requests.

The lawyer went to see Mr. Yan again on May 18, 2021 and was still denied visitation. Only when the lawyer threatened to file a complaint against the detention center, did the guards approve the visit.

Mr. Yan stood trial at the Guangzong County Court on August 20, 2021. His lawyer was informed on September 7 that he was sentenced to 4.5 years. The lawyer is now appealing the verdict on his client’s behalf.

Mr. Yan was recently hospitalized for unknown reasons. His family went to the hospital and called his name from outside of the hospital building, as they were again denied visitation. When Mr. Yan responded to them, several police officers appeared at the window and threatened to arrest his family if they called him again.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Zhang Mengkan (张孟侃), head of the Guangzong County Domestic Security Office: [phone]Li Siying (李思营), head of the Wei County Domestic Security Office: [phone]Li Jing (李京), deputy secretary of the Xingtai City Political and Legal Affairs Committee: [phone]Zhou Jinhu (周金虎), judge, Guangzong County Court: [phone]Li Na (李娜), prosecutor, Guangzong County Procuratorate: [phone], [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)