Former Real Estate Manager Faces Prosecution After Enduring 12 Years in Prison for His Faith

Mr. Pang You, a resident of Beijing endured 12 years in prison for his faith in practicing Falun Gong. The Chinese communist regime has been persecuting practitioners of the spiritual practice, also known as Falun Dafa, since 1999. Mr. Pang, ~60 years of age, is currently facing prosecution again for his faith.

Latest Ordeals

Mr. Pang was arrested on May 2, 2022, two days after being reported for having distributed leaflets about Falun Gong. His Falun Gong books, cell phones and media player were confiscated. He was released on bail on May 3, 2022, as he failed the physical examination required for detention. 

On July 28, 2022, Mr. Pang was arrested again at home and taken to the Changping District Detention Center. In early September 2022, Mr. Pang’s family received a call from the detention center informing them that he had been hospitalized because his feet had become swollen and suppurated due to diabetes. 

On November 7, 2022, Mr. Pang’s lawyer was informed that the police had submitted his case to the Changping District Procuratorate. He was indicted in early January 2023 and faces trial by the Changping District Court. He was still being held at the police hospital at the time this report was written on January 28, 2022. 

Past Persecution

Mr. Pang, a former city planning office director and real estate company manager has been repeatedly arrested during the past two decades for practicing Falun Gong. He was imprisoned twice for a total of 12 years.

Arrested for Appealing for Falun Gong

In October 1999, a few months after the Chinese communist party started the persecution, Mr. Pang went to the National Appeals Office to plea for an end to the Chinese communist party’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Instead of being heard, he was arrested. He was detained for four days at the Chaoyang District Detention Center and subsequently was fired from his work.

Mr. Pang was arrested two more times, in December 1999 and March 2000, and was held at the Chaoyang District Detention Center for more than 20 days each time. 

On June 25, 2000, police beat Mr. Pang for displaying a banner in Tiananmen Square, causing severe injuries to his head. Mr. Pang was later taken to the Shijingshan Stadium, where he was starved for two days, interrogated, and beaten again. The police continued to beat him after transferring him to a police station. They also poured boiling water on him after he fainted to keep him conscious while continuing to beat him.

After Mr. Pang was taken to the Qiaozhuang Detention Center in Tongzhou District, the police slapped him in the face about twenty times with a leather shoe. They stomped on him during the interrogation. As he refused to answer questions, eight officers handcuffed him and shocked him with eight electric batons. Mr. Pang held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was force-fed. The guards also left the feeding tube in his stomach and kept him handcuffed and shackled.

After nine days of hunger strike, Mr. Pang was taken to the local police station. The police attempted to take him to the detention center, but he was denied admission. To avoid further persecution, Mr. Pang lived in hiding, away from his home.

Sentenced to Eight Years

On September 27, 2000, Mr. Pang was arrested again. Police beat him savagely and he fainted several times in the police station. In November 2001 he was sentenced to eight years and taken to the Qianwei Prison. 

In Qianwei Prison the prison guard, Liang Kai used an electric baton to shock Mr. Pang and forced him to run laps in handcuffs and shackles. The inmates also dragged Mr. Pang by the shackles, smashing his feet against the ground. The guards connected the handcuffs and shackle with a 1.5-foot-long chain, keeping him hunched over, preventing him from being able to stretch his body. 

In 2002, the Qianwei Prison merged with the Qianjin Prison. There the guards forced Mr. Pang to sit still on a one-foot-tall stool for over ten hours each day. The inmates would beat and verbally abuse him when he would move. He was also deprived of sleep. Sometimes the guards forced him to wear a straitjacket, preventing him from moving at all, forced to lie on the ground.

Mr. Pang held another hunger strike to protest the persecution. The guards force-fed him for nine days while keeping him handcuffed and shackled.

Mr. Pang was released on September 27, 2008.

Another Four-year Term

On August 3, 2009, Mr. Pang was arrested again for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was held at the Chaoyang District Detention Center for a month and transferred to the Beijing City No. 1 Detention Center in mid-September, 2009.

The Chaoyang District Court sentenced him to four years in Qianjin Prison on April 7, 2010. 

Three More Arrests

While visiting a friend in Yichuan County, Shaanxi Province, Mr. Pang was arrested on December 5, 2014. He was tortured with a tiger bench and subjected to savage beatings during the six months that he was held at the Huanglong County Detention Center. 

On January 21, 2016, he was arrested again and held at the Tongzhou District Detention Center until February 21, 2016. 

On October 11, 2017, Mr. Pang was arrested again and held at the Chaoyang District Detention Center for 37 days.

Based on an original report from Minghui.org