(Minghui.org) A 62-year-old resident of Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province, was sentenced to 1.5 years and fined 2,000 yuan by the Luxi County Court on July 10, 2020, for refusing to give up his faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
After the local detention center refused to accept Mr. Yang Tingxian due to his medical condition, he was sent home. It’s not clear when the police will take him back into custody.
Mr. Yang was stopped by the police at the train station on December 16, 2019, only two months after he was released from a previous prison term. He was carrying Falun Gong books and calendars with information about Falun Gong.
The police first took him to Pingxiang City Detention Center, but they refused to admit him due to his high blood pressure. The police then took him to a hospital, where the doctor told them that Mr. Yang needed to be hospitalized. The police objected, saying that they didn’t have the manpower to watch Mr. Yang in the hospital. They took him back to the detention center and forced the guards to accept him.
For a month, the guards forced Mr. Yang to take high blood pressure pills, but they didn’t help. Meanwhile, he developed blisters on the soles of his feet.
When Mr. Yang refused to take the pills, the guards attempted to force-feed him. When he resisted, they hit him on the head and pinched his face. The next day, February 2, 2020, they decided to release him.
Prior to his latest term, Mr. Yang served one year in Nanchang Prison. He was forced to sit on a small stool without moving, held in solitary confinement, deprived of sleep, and forced to stand facing the wall at night, all for his refusing to renounce Falun Gong.
After he was released in October 2019, he received his retirement pension for only one month before the authorities froze his account in December.
Related reports:
15 Arrested While Meditating at a Private Residence
Ten Arrested While Reading Falun Gong Books—Five Still in Detention
