75-year-old Retired Teacher Sentenced to Prison for His Faith

A 75-year-old retired middle school teacher in Shanghai was sentenced to one year and two months for his faith in Falun Gong on February 24, 2021.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Fa Zhengping was arrested at home on February 16, 2020. The police targeted him because he had been reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.

His family was summoned to the local police station the next day to pick up his criminal detention notice. They were also told that the case was being handled by the Domestic Security Division, and that the police station didn’t have any further details about the case.

Mr. Fa was held at the Pudong New District Detention Center. In mid-May 2020, the police submitted his case to the procuratorate, which then indicted him and moved his case to the Fengxian District Court.

After over a year of detention, Mr. Fa was sentenced to one year and two months with a 2,000-yuan fine on February 24, 2021. He is scheduled to be released on April 16, 2021.

Mr. Fa took up Falun Gong in late 1995. After the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999, he served two terms of forced labor and one prison term, for a total of seven years of detention.

Mr. Fa said he was subjected to constant torture while incarcerated, including being starved, force-fed with unknown drugs and deprived of sleep. In the summer, the guards twice forced him to wear a thick sweater and down jacket, and kept him tied up for over 20 days. Sometimes, they shocked him with four electric batons at once or tied him to a fence.

As a result of the torture, Mr. Fa suffered severe brain damage and had significant hearing, vision, and memory loss. He had trouble thinking straight. His legs and arms were bruised after being tied up for long stretches. He was unable to lift his arms and had difficulty walking. He also suffered from extremely low blood pressure, which caused him to faint and fall many times. When he was asked to give a blood sample, he noted that his blood appeared dark due to lack of oxygen.

While Mr. Fa was serving a three-year term in prison, the inmates picked at the inside of his cheeks with their fingers. The injuries took a long time to heal. He also had injuries to his face and ears from being beaten by the inmates. After returning home, he often fainted, and his urine was brown. After Mr. Fa resumed practicing Falun Gong, he gradually recovered.