Son of Falun Gong Practitioner Imprisoned in China Seeks His Release

Ding Yunde, who is serving a 3-year jail term for his faith, is at risk of torture and abuse, his son says.

The son of a Falun Gong practitioner imprisoned in China has issued an urgent plea for his father’s release, saying his father is at risk of torture and abuse amid the regime’s intensified efforts to suppress his faith.

Ding Lebin, a Berlin resident, made the emotional plea a year after his father, Ding Yuande, was sentenced to three years in prison by a court in Shandong Province in December 2023. European lawmakers and the family have said the punishment stems solely from the man’s faith in Falun Gong.

The spiritual discipline, which consists of meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, has been brutally targeted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999, after an estimated 70 million to 100 million people took up the practice, outpacing the Party’s membership.

Since March, Ding’s father has been incarcerated in Shandong Province Prison, one of the country’s deadliest facilities for Falun Gong practitioners.

From shocks by electric batons to finger twisting with sticks, practitioners who had been held in this facility have reported more than a dozen brutal torture methods they endured while being punished for refusing to renounce their faith.

According to Minghui, a website that tracks the persecution of Falun Gong, there are also some unusual methods of mistreatment at Shandong Province Prison, including being forced to sit on a tiny stool for up to 18 hours—often while watching propaganda videos—and being deprived of basic needs like food, water, and sleep. In one case, a college student died in June 2009 after being given one steamed bun to eat each day while being held in solitary in a small jail cell for more than 50 days.

Ding told The Epoch Times he fears his father could fall victim to forced labor, torture, or even be killed for his organs. “Every day, I’m worried about his safety,” he said.

As the European Union commemorated Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, its diplomatic arm specifically raised the plight of Ding’s father, saying the bloc “continues to be concerned and calls for the immediate and unconditional release” of the senior Ding, among others.

A resolution the European Parliament adopted in January, called on Beijing to free Ding Yuande, along with other persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. It urged the European Union and its 27 member states to impose sanctions against the perpetrators, with measures such as refusing visas, freezing assets, expelling them from EU territories, and prosecuting them for their crimes.

Frank Schwabe, the German federal commissioner for freedom of religion or belief, also highlighted the “massive repression” of faith groups by the Chinese regime on Human Rights Day.

“I would like to mention Ding Yuande, who has been wrongfully imprisoned for a long time,” Schwabe said in a statement on social media platform X.

Rights advocates echoed this plea, urging the CCP to free Ding’s father and end its brutal campaign against the faith group.

“The Chinese government must put an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, which has now been going on for 25 years,” Jasna Causevic from the Society for Threatened People (STP), a Germany-based nonprofit, said in a statement on Dec. 10. “Those responsible must be brought to justice.”

Concerns are growing over the CCP’s escalated efforts to wipe out Falun Gong.

The Epoch Times reported earlier this month that in a 2022 secret meeting, CCP leader Xi Jinping personally ordered a new global strategy to suppress Falun Gong practitioners. The new campaign focuses on legal battles in the United States and a disinformation campaign through social media influencers and some Western media outlets, which outwardly appear independent of the regime.

Amid the regime’s intensified efforts to silence dissenting voices, Ding remains steadfast in his quest to secure freedom for his father.

“I’m not just speaking out for my own parents,” Ding said. “I’m advocating for every practitioner who is still being persecuted.”

He called on the European Union and its 27 member states to impose sanctions on CCP officials involved in the persecution, which has resulted in an untold number of practitioners being imprisoned, tortured, and killed for their faith.

Ding said due to the relentless campaign, he has been separated from his parents in China for more than a decade.

“We all hold onto a wish,” Ding said. “That this persecution would come to an end swiftly, and that all Falun Gong practitioners could reunite with their loved ones as soon as possible.”

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