(Minghui.org) Mr. Sun Tongqing, a Falun Gong practitioner from Harbin, was sentenced to five years in prison by the Shuangcheng District Court in January. He appealed, and the Harbin Intermediate Court returned his case to the Procuratorate for additional investigation in early April.

Mr. Sun bought a used computer on May 6, 2016 and went to another practitioner’s home to set it up. Officers from the Shuangcheng Police Department, who were hiding nearby, arrested both of them.

Mr. Sun was tried in the Shuangcheng District Court on December 9, 2016, without his family or lawyer being notified. He was charged with storing Falun Gong informational materials on his computer.

In his defense, Mr. Sun argued that practicing Falun Gong is not illegal and that there is nothing wrong with striving to be a good person by following the teachings of the practice. The prosecutor threatened him, saying, “You’ll be sentenced to seven years if you mention Falun Gong again!”

The judge did not say anything.

Mr. Sun has been arrested and detained many times since the communist regime started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999. He was sentenced to a one-year term of forced labor in December 2000 and was also given a three-year forced labor sentence in August 2002.

Parties involved in the persecution of Mr. Sun:Xiao Jitian, chief of the Shuangcheng District Domestic Security Division: +86-13936238777, +86- 451-83208058 (H)Hu Yelin, judge, Shuangcheng District Court: +86-18346585558, +86-451-53168474 (O)Zhang Zhenting, prosecutor: +86-13945122872