(Minghui.org) A retired teacher in Linshu County, Shandong Province, was sentenced to two years on October 8, 2021 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yang Guangzhen, 62, was arrested and had her home ransacked on April 1, 2020. She was held in a metal cage and interrogated overnight at the police station. The police also collected her saliva sample. She was released on bail the next day.
In later October, Guo submitted Ms. Yang’s case to the Ju’nan County Procuratorate, which then transferred her case to the Linshu County Procuratorate in early November. Prosecutor Liu Yan indicted her in March 2021 and moved her case to the Linshu County Court.
Ms. Yang appeared in court on September 13, 2021. Judge Zhuo Shan denied her and her family’s request to have the prosecutor recused from her case for indicting her while ignoring the violation of legal procedures by the police. The judge also rejected Ms. Yang’s other request to exclude unverified evidence against her.
Ms. Yang’s lawyer argued that no law criminalizes Falun Gong in China. He added that the prosecutor failed to provide any evidence to demonstrate how Ms. Yang had allegedly “undermined law enforcement,” the pretext used by the Chinese courts to imprison Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Yang detailed how the police arbitrarily arrested her on the street, forcibly searched her body, tied her in a metal chair, and locked her in a metal cage. She added that the police used insulting and humiliating language on her during her arrest and interrogation. She refuted the charges against her and argued that there is no legal basis for the persecution.
Ms. Yang’s lawyer described how a male police officer inappropriately body searched Ms. Yang, and testified against the arresting officers for ransacking her home without a warrant, failing to provide a confiscation list, and fabricating evidence to frame her.
The judge handed down the two-year sentence on October 8. Liu Chaojun of the Ju’nan County Domestic Security Office took her to the Linyi City Detention Center afterwards.
Ms. Yang has been repeatedly arrested for her faith. She was previously given a three-year labor camp term in 2005.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Zhuo Shan (禚山), judge of Linshu County Court: +86-18669567619, +86-13953979678Liu Yan (刘艳), prosecutor of Linshu County Procuratorate: +86-19853970197Yang Ming (杨明), secretary of Linshu County Political and Legal Affairs Committee: +86-539-6211830Liu Chaojun (刘朝军), head of Junan County Domestic Security Office: +86-13954967666Guo Qiang (郭强), deputy head of Junan County Domestic Security Office: +86-15753999729
Related reports:
Retired Teacher Stands Trial for Her Faith
Practitioners Illegally Arrested in Junan County and Sent to Labor Camps
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