(Minghui.org) The Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate Court ruled on December 13, 2023 to uphold the wrongful convictions of two local residents for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Wang Hong, 49, and Ms. Dai Shufang, 72, who were arrested on September 20, 2022, appeared in a virtual hearing by the Jiangbei District Court on May 19, 2023. The court returned the case to the Jiangbei District Procuratorate citing insufficient evidence. It was unclear whether the procuratorate submitted any additional evidence, but the court sentenced Mr. Wang and Ms. Dai on August 18, 2023 without holding another hearing.
Mr. Wang was given a nine-year prison term, and Ms. Dai 8.5 years. Both were also fined 15,000 yuan. They filed appeals with the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate Court. Mr. Wang reiterated in his appeal that no law criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult. He requested that his guilty verdict be overturned because he had not broken any law by practicing and spreading information about his faith. One of his relatives applied to be his non-lawyer family defender, but was rejected.
The intermediate court issued a ruling on December 13, 2023 to uphold the wrongful convictions of Mr. Wang and Ms. Dai.
Ms. Dai is likely still being held at the Jiangbei District Detention Center after losing her appeal. Mr. Wang, who had been held at the same detention center since his arrest, was transferred to the Yongchuan Prison without his family’s knowledge, on an unknown date. It took his loved ones much effort to find out about his prison transfer. They requested to visit him but were rejected. The prison said that all newly-admitted Falun Gong practitioners were put in strict management and had no right to family visits.
The prison is notorious for abusing Falun Gong practitioners jailed there for upholding their faith. Most practitioners are held in Division Ten or Division Twelve, which in May 2018 both set up “transformation” bases aimed to “transform” practitioners and make them give up their spiritual belief. Other prisons across Chongqing also began sending steadfast male practitioners to the two bases.
Four inmates are usually assigned to watch each practitioner around the clock. They restrict the practitioner’s sleep, food intake, and purchase of daily necessities. They also force the practitioner to sit on a small stool and watch, read, or listen to anti-Falun Gong materials all day long. If he refuses to comply, he is subjected to various forms of torture, including pepper spray, electric shock, and brutal beatings.
While Mr. Wang’s family was not told which division he is being held at, they knew that he was previously abused while serving a 4-year term at the same prison, also for practicing Falun Gong.
Taking up Falun Gong Despite the Persecution
Mr. Wang and Ms. Dai both started practicing Falun Gong after the persecution began. Mr. Wang came across the book Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Gong, in September 2000. He was immediately drawn to its profound principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and saw hope again despite the chaos and quickly declining morality around him. His practice, however, was met with repeated persecution.
He was arrested on March 6, 2001, for distributing Falun Gong flyers, and sentenced to four years in prison. He was brutally tortured and forced to do hard labor (sometimes for over 20 hours per day) while serving time in the detention center, and in Yongchuan Prison. The police continued to harass him after he was released and forced him to stay away from home.
He was arrested again on June 14, 2011, while visiting another practitioner, Mr. Wang Jinxiu, and given one year in the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp. Years later, he was put in a brainwashing center. After he was released on December 18, 2017, the local authorities kept harassing him at home. He had to leave home and move repeatedly.
Ms. Dai, a wine seller, started practicing Falun Gong in July 2007, and soon recovered from her numerous health problems, including heart diseases, bronchitis, severe headaches, severe bone hyperplasia, and enteritis. On September 3, 2009, several people whose identities she never ascertained broke into her wine shop and tried to arrest her. She escaped but was later forced to close her shop and stay away from home.
Latest Arrest and Sentencing
Mr. Wang and Ms. Dai later met and became housemates in a shared rental apartment. Officers from the Yubei District Police Department broke into the place on September 20, 2022, and arrested them. The police confiscated their Falun Gong books, computers, printers, and more than 10,000 yuan in cash (including some banknotes with Falun Gong messages printed on them as a means to raise awareness about the persecution).
They were taken to the Yubei District Detention Center. The Yubei District Procuratorate issued formal arrest warrants in October 2022 and forwarded their cases to the Jiangbei District Procuratorate. Shortly afterward, Mr. Wang and Ms. Dai were transferred to the Jiangbei District Detention Center.
The Jiangbei District Procuratorate indicted Mr. Wang and Ms. Dai in January 2023 on charges of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners.
The Jiangbei District Court held a hearing on May 19, 2023. There was heavy police presence both inside and outside the courthouse. All the spectators had to show their IDs.
Mr. Wang and Ms. Dai, however, were nowhere to be seen. Their families and lawyers were told that they would be joining the trial remotely from the detention center. The court never gave any explanation for why the format of the trial was changed from in-person to remote for the two defendants. People in the courtroom saw from the virtual hearing video that Ms. Dai was brought into a room at the detention center in a wheelchair.
Mr. Wang explained how Falun Gong had restored his health and taught him to be a good person when his lawyer asked why he practiced Falun Gong. He emphasized that he broke no law by exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief. His lawyer concurred and further pointed out that no enacted law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult.
Ms. Dai also testified in her own defense and demanded an acquittal. The court later returned the case to the procuratorate. It was unclear when the procuratorate resubmitted the case, but the court sentenced both Ms. Dai and Mr. Wang on August 18, 2023, without holding another hearing.
Related Report:
Two Chongqing Residents Given Long Prison Terms for Their Shared Faith in Falun Gong
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