(Minghui.org) It was learned that a Changchun City, Jilin Province, resident had been sentenced to three years for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

The sentencing of Mr. Xu Zhanqing, around 60, stemmed from his arrest at home on May 1, 2023, after he was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The arresting officers from the Qianjin Boulevard Police Station took him to a local detention center and submitted his case to a local procuratorate. His family found out about his prison sentence recently but still knows nothing about the details of his indictment, trial, or sentencing. They learned that he has filed an appeal but it is unclear where he is currently held.

This is not the first time that Mr. Xu has been targeted for practicing Falun Gong, which he credits for curing his cervical pain, rheumatism, prostate disease, and stomach disease. In May 2012, he went to Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province (about 60 miles away from Changchun City) to distribute Falun Gong informational materials. He was reported to the police, arrested days later on May 28, and taken to the Liaoyuan City Detention Center on the same day.

Mr. Xu was forced to work without pay from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day at the detention center. One job he did was wrapping toothpicks with colored paper. He was beaten and verbally abused whenever he failed to finish his daily quota. Despite the heavy workload, each day he was only given three steamed buns and one bowl of vegetable soup to eat. There was often mud in the soup and it appeared the vegetables were never washed well.

The Liaoyuan City 610 Office, an extra-legal agency tasked with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong, and the domestic security office, interrogated Mr. Xu multiple times during his detention. They ordered him to write various statements to renounce and denounce Falun Gong. It was unclear whether he ever complied. He was released on December 19, 2012.