(Minghui.org) A Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, resident was sentenced to seven years and fined 10,000 yuan on January 10, 2024, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The Dong’e County Court notified Ms. Xu Jinfeng’s family defender (who is not a lawyer) that day to pick up a copy of her verdict. A court worker also went to the Liaocheng City Detention Center that day to have Ms. Xu sign the verdict. She refused to sign and the court worker took the verdict back.
Ms. Xu’s family defender picked up her verdict on January 11, but his request to meet with her was denied by the judge. Her lawyer was allowed to see her at the detention center the next morning and he submitted her appeal to the trial court that afternoon, so it could be forwarded to the appeals court, which is how appeals are handled in China.
4th Practitioner Sentenced Following a Group Arrest
Ms. Xu is the fourth Falun Gong practitioner seized during a group arrest in 2022 who has been sentenced to prison.
Thirty officers from the Chiping District Domestic Security Office, the Chiping District 610 Office, and the Zhenxing Police Station broke into Mr. Li Chuanlu’s home around 9 p.m. on August 12, 2022, and arrested more than ten practitioners who were reading Falun Gong books, including Ms. Xu, Ms. Shang Sufang, Mr. Liu Mingsen, Ms. Sun Yurong, Mr. Wang Chengguo and Ms. Lu Jinyu.
The Dong’e County Court heard the cases against seven practitioners in two separate groups on the same day around early January 2023. Ms. Xu was tried together with Ms. Shang, and Mr. Liu, while Mr. Li, Ms. Sun, Mr. Wang, and Ms. Lu were tried together.
The seven practitioners, who had been out on bail, were allowed to go home after the court hearings. The police, however, descended on Mr. Liu’s, Ms. Shang’s, Ms. Xu’s, and Ms. Lu’s homes on January 18, 2023, saying that the court instructed them to take them back into custody. Because Ms. Shang, Ms. Xu, and Ms. Lu were forced to live away from home after their hearings, the police put them on the wanted list and took Mr. Liu to the Liaocheng City Detention Center.
Around late January 2023, the court sentenced Mr. Li, nearly 80, and Ms. Sun each to five years with five years probation, and Mr. Wang to two years with two years probation. In the meantime, the police kept searching for Ms. Xu, Ms. Shang, and Ms. Lu. They tracked down Ms. Xu and arrested her from her rental place at 7 a.m. on October 31, 2023.
The arresting officers from the Chiping District Domestic Security Office flashed an arrest warrant and a search warrant issued by the Dong’e County Court, before taking Ms. Xu to the Liaocheng City Detention Center that afternoon.
Ms. Xu made her second court appearance on December 11, 2023 and her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. During the hearing, the bailiffs searched her family defender and other family members present, on the grounds that someone leaked the court date to the public. The bailiffs also attempted to search the lawyer, but the lawyer firmly resisted.
It is unclear whether Ms. Shang and Ms. Lu were still hiding, or whether Mr. Liu was sentenced.
Details of Group Arrest
During the group arrest at Mr. Li’s home on August 12, 2022, the police confiscated his and his guests’ Falun Gong books and other personal items. Although the police didn’t arrest Mr. Li due to his age, they summoned him and his wife to the Zhenxing Police Station to be interrogated the next day.
While most of the practitioners, including Mr. Li and Ms. Sun, were released, Ms. Lu, Mr. Liu, Mr. Wang, Ms. Shang, and Ms. Xu were held in a hotel for a brainwashing session and were released under house arrest on August 31.
The police submitted the cases against Ms. Lu, Mr. Liu, Mr. Wang, Ms. Shang, Ms. Xu, Mr. Li, and Ms. Sun to the Dong’e County Procuratorate on October 8. They summoned the first five practitioners to the Zhenxing Police Station for an interview with the prosecutor on October 17.
Wang Changsong, the deputy head of the Chiping District Domestic Security Office, summoned all seven practitioners to the Zhenxing Police Station on November 7. As soon as they arrived at the police station, they were taken to the Chiping District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital for physical examinations and then held in a COVID-19 quarantine hotel. Wang ordered their families to deliver clothes to them the next day.
All seven practitioners developed medical conditions in the quarantine hotel. Mr. Li and Ms. Sun were the first two to be released. After Ms. Shang was hospitalized, Ms. Xu and Ms. Lu were also released when they were no longer able to walk. The police had to carry them out.
Mr. Wang and Mr. Liu also demanded to be released, but the police did not approve it. When their illness symptoms got worse, the police agreed to release them on December 23, 2022.
Related Report:
Seven Shandong Residents Tried for Practicing Falun Gong, Three Already Sentenced
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