Mr. Ni Zhenxuan from Shijiazhuang City Sentenced to Three and a Half Years of Forced Labour

Name: Ni Zhenxuan
Gender: Male
Age: 66
Address: Nanyangzhuang Village, Nancun Town, Chang'an District, Shijiazhuang City
Occupation: Owner and manager of a sofa factory
Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 4th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: No. 2 Detention Centre of Shijiazhuang City
City: Shijiazhuang
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Home ransacked, detention

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ni Zhenxuan from Shijiazhuang City, 66, was sentenced to three and a half years of forced labour, from March 5th, 2011 to September 4th, 2014. He has announced his intention to appeal.

Mr. Ni’s family and his attorney visited him in the No. 2 Detention Centre of Shijiazhuang City on the morning of August 9th. His attorney asked him whether he would like to appeal if an unjust sentence was handed down. Mr. Ni replied, “Of course I’ll appeal.” The attorney then suggested that he appeal verbally or prepare written appeal materials.

Mr. Ni has practised Falun Gong for many years. He owned and managed a sofa factory. During the past years, he had been taking care of his 89-year-old mother and his uncle, who was disabled and seriously ill. His neighbours all praised him for his filial piety.

On the afternoon of March 4th, 2011, practitioners Meng Ruixian, Shi Qin, Yang Lanying, Zu Suzi, and Zhang Meiying, from Yangjia Village, Nanun Town, Chang’an District, Shijiazhuang City, went to Mr. Ni’s home and visited his mother, who was ill in bed. Several police officers broke into their home and forcibly arrested the five practitioners. The police also attempted to arrest Mr. Ni's wife, who was taking care of her mother-in-law, but failed due to resistance from her family.

The police ransacked the home and confiscated their personal belongings, including a satellite TV dish, a satellite TV receiver, and a computer. Later that day, the police broke into Mr. Ni’s sofa factory and confiscated printing equipment. Mr. Ni was taken into custody at his workplace.

The police took a notice regarding Mr. Ni's forced labour term to his family at 10:00 a.m. on March 13th and attempted to coerce the family members into signing it, but they adamantly declined. Mr. Ni was then sent to the No. 2 Detention Centre of Shijiazhuang City. The police threatened that they would categorize the case as a criminal one.

Mr. Ni’s family and his attorney appealed to the Chang’an District Procuratorate of Shijiazhuang City on the morning of June 13th, but were told that the case had been already submitted to the court.

The Chang’an Court of Shijiazhuang City held a trial at 9:00 a.m. on June 21st. The attorney pleaded not guilty for Mr. Ni. After the trial, Mr. Ni’s family told Judge Wang Xu that Mr. Ni was already in his sixties and demanded his immediate and unconditional release. However, the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) agents who monitored the trial ordered the police to drive out Mr. Ni’s family.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/8/19/245587.html