(Minghui.org) A man in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province was detained in early June 2026 to serve a one-year term that he was given in 2020 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhao Zijun’s prison sentence stemmed from his initial arrest on April 25, 2019, after he was reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Officers from the Qiaoxi District Domestic Security Office ransacked his home when no one was around. His Falun Gong books and related materials, cell phone, and computer were confiscated.
The police interrogated Mr. Zhao the next day, while restraining him in a chair with his hands cuffed. He refused to answer any questions. He was transferred to a detention facility hours later and put under criminal detention on May 9, 2019.
Mr. Zhao was released on bail on June 7, 2019. Not long after, he was summoned to the Qiaoxi District Procuratorate and ordered to sign the case document. In the next few months, the police frequently harassed him, disrupting his and his family’s lives.
Mr. Zhao was summoned to Qiaoxi District Court on May 27, 2020 to get his indictment document and was told that he was scheduled to appear in court in a few days.
A court staffer said to him, “We know you are all good people. What you did was nothing. But you’ll have to write a guarantee statement promising not to practice Falun Gong in the future, in order for us to give you a lighter sentence. This is the order from above and we can’t do anything about it.”
Mr. Zhao was tried on July 17, 2020. He testified in his own defense and demanded his acquittal. The judge sentenced him to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine on August 20.
Mr. Zhao appealed with the Zhangjiakou City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold his original verdict on February 28, 2021. Due to his physical condition, the court didn’t order him to start serving time immediately. Meanwhile, his workplace fired him, citing his prison sentence.
Officers from the Waidongyaozi Town Police Station arrested Mr. Zhao in early June 2026, claiming to take him back into custody to serve time. He is currently held at an infectious disease hospital under police supervision.
Related Report:
Two Falun Gong Practitioners to Appear in Court After One Year of Harassment
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