(Minghui.org) Three residents of Ankang City, Shaanxi Province were sentenced to prison by two different courts two days apart for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The Xunyang County Court in Ankang City sentenced Ms. Cao Ping, in her 70s, to eight years with a 50,000-yuan fine, and Mr. Chen Jun to five years with a 30,000-yuan fine on October 25, 2023. Many valuables were confiscated from Ms. Cao’s home, including 40,000 yuan in cash. She is currently held at the Hanbin District Detention Center, and Mr. Chen at the Langao County Detention Center. Due to abuse and poor living conditions, Ms. Cao is high blood pressure is now dangerously high and she has lost sight in one eye.
Another Ankang City resident, Ms. Luo Changyun, was sentenced to six years with a 30,000-yuan fine on October 27, 2023 by the Hanbin District Court. She was accused of writing letters to her local social security bureau and government officials, requesting the reinstatement of her pension that has been suspended since 2016 because of her faith in Falun Gong. She is being held at the Hanbin District Detention Center.
All three practitioners have filed appeals.
Mr. Chen’s Mother-in-law, Who Was Arrested with Him and Ms. Cao, Dies While Awaiting Verdict
Mr. Chen, his mother-in-law Ms. Du Fengying (also a Falun Gong practitioner), and Ms. Cao were out on a road trip on September 24, 2022, when they were arrested at a rest area by four officers who had been following them. The police searched Mr. Chen’s car and confiscated a few copies of Falun Gong booklets.
The three practitioners were then taken to the Langao County Police Department, where they were interrogated by captain Tang Xiaowei of the Langao County Domestic Security Office. Another officer, who appeared to be of a higher rank, gave orders to Tang from time to time. Neither of them showed their IDs or revealed their identities. The practitioners found out about Tang’s name later on. Tang did not sign his name on the interrogation records. He had the three practitioners spend the night on the bench in the interrogation chamber. There was no pillows or blanket.
The police took Ms. Du to her home to search it at 9 a.m. the next morning. At around two o’clock that afternoon, they took her and Ms. Cao to the Ankang Railway Hospital for a physical examination. As Ms. Du was found to have dangerously high blood pressure, she was denied admission by the Hanbin District Detention Center, which did admit Ms. Cao. Ms. Du was then placed under house arrest.
Mr. Chen, on the other hand, was taken to the Xunyang County Detention Center after the interrogation.
Ms. Du’s lawyer submitted a request to lift her house arrest, but was rejected.
The three practitioners stood trial on April 23, 2023. Their lawyers entered not guilty pleas for them, yet the judge frequently interrupted the lawyers and didn’t allow the practitioners to talk.
Ms. Cao and Mr. Chen’s lawyers submitted requests to have them released on bail in late July 2023, but never received a response.
Due to frequent harassment by the police and community workers, Ms. Du’s condition continued to decline. She died on September 6. In addition to her last arrest, Ms. Du was arrested another time on November 1, 2014 for distributing Falun Gong materials and detained for 15 days.
While still mourning her mother's passing, Ms. Du's daughter was dealt another blow when Mr. Chen was convicted on October 25 along with Ms. Cao. She is struggling to cope with the shock.
After Nearly 12 Years of Detention, Ms. Luo Sentenced to Another Six Years
Ms. Luo has been repeatedly targeted since the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999. Simply for upholding her faith, she was arrested more than 20 times in the past 24 years.
She was thrice given forced labor terms totaling six and a half years between 2000 and 2007 and sentenced to five years in prison in 2008. Her husband divorced her under pressure, and their two daughters were also implicated.
The local social security bureau suspended Ms. Luo’s pension from April 1, 2010, to January 1, 2013, when she was still serving her five-year prison term. They later reinstated her pension, but started suspending it again in 2016. She has not received any pension benefits since then.
Ms. Luo mailed a letter to the social security bureau on January 8, 2022, requesting that her pension be reinstated and urging them to stop persecuting her financially for her faith in Falun Gong.
She also mailed another letter to the secretary of the Ankang City Discipline Committee, secretary of the Ankang City Police Department Political and Legal Affairs Committee, postmaster of Gaoxin Post Office, and deputy secretary of the Hanbin District Political and Legal Affairs Committee. She shared in the letter how Falun Gong freed her from stubborn illnesses and how people in more than 100 countries practice Falun Gong. She urged the officials to stop following the CCP in persecuting innocent Falun Gong practitioners like her. She also asked that they uphold justice for her and help reinstate her pension.
The social security bureau and those government officials turned in her letters to the Hanbin District Police Department Domestic Security Office. The police arrested her on May 30, 2022 and took her for a physical examination required for detention.
As her blood pressure readings were 184/140 mmHg and the Hanbin District Detention Center refused to admit her (in China, detention facilities usually do not accept anyone whose systolic blood pressure, the top number in the readings, is 180 mmHg or higher), Zhao Silin, head of the Hanbin District Domestic Security Office, took her to another hospital and directed his daughter, who worked there, to change Ms. Luo’s blood pressure readings to 179/140 mmHg.
With the altered readings, Ms. Luo was admitted to the Hanbin District Detention Center.
Ms. Luo stood trial on June 2, 2023. Her two lawyers requested that the court hold responsible officers Zhao, Zhou Yunshui, and Bamacimu for fabricating her blood pressure readings. The lawyers also demanded justice against prosecutors Cheng Lina, Zhang Xiuqiong, and Zhang Pucha for failing to investigate the police’s fabrication of Ms. Luo’s health records.
The Hanbin District Court sentenced Ms. Luo to six years on October 27.
Related reports:
Ten Falun Gong Practitioner Deaths Due to Persecution Reported in September 2023
Police Alter Woman's Blood Pressure Readings in Order to Get Her Detained
Ms. Luo Changyun Arrested Again for Suing Jiang Zemin
Shaanxi Teacher's Family Tragedy
Ms. Luo Changyun Sentenced to Prison After Being Held in a Forced Labor Camp Three Times
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