(Minghui.org) Two Longkou City, Shandong Province, women were sentenced to two years on March 12, 2024, for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Chen Guifang and Ms. Jiao Linhui were among 23 Longkou residents (21 Falun Gong practitioners and two of their family members) arrested around 5 a.m. on May 9, 2023. More than 100 officers from eight police stations in Longkou City were dispatched that day to carry out the group arrest. They deceived the targeted practitioners into opening their doors by claiming to be street committee staffers or downstairs neighbors whose ceilings were leaking. According to insiders, the Longkou City Domestic Security Office orchestrated the police sweep.
Ms. Jiao, a Tianjin native, was seized by officers from the Dongjiang Police Station. The police broke in by prying open her door. Ms. Chen was arrested at the home of her sister Ms. Chen Yan, who was recovering from a leg surgery and relied on her for care. Both practitioners were held at the Yantai City Detention Center. Yantai oversees Longkou.
The police submitted their joint case to the Longkou City Procuratorate on July 26, 2023. They were soon indicted and their case was forwarded to the Longkou City Court on August 21.
First Court Hearing
When Ms. Jiao and Ms. Chen appeared in court on November 1, 2023, the judge stayed in the same room with their family members, while placing both women in the room next door. Prosecutor Wang Fei accused Ms. Jiao of being a “repeat offender” as she was twice given forced labor in the past for her faith in Falun Gong. Ms. Jiao said that she should have never been persecuted for exercising her constitutionally protected right to freedom of belief. As such, the forced labor terms were not legitimate in the first place.
Ms. Chen testified against the police for lying to her. They promised to send her home after going through a physical examination on the day of her arrest, only to take her to the Yantai City Detention Center right after the hospital visit. She said she became healthy after she took up Falun Gong more than twenty years ago, but she developed high blood pressure and migraine headaches after being abused in the detention center for more than five months. The guards forced her to take some unknown drugs every day.
Ms. Chen and her lawyer also protested against the format of the hearing. They questioned the presiding judge on why he put her and Ms. Jiao in a different room than everyone else when they were already brought to the courthouse and they did not suffer from any contagious diseases.
Ms. Chen further pointed out that she was told that a different judge would preside over the trial and that she was not informed of the change of the presiding judge in advance as required by law. The judge did not address these concerns and ended the hearing in half an hour.
Second Court Hearing
Both women were at the second court appearance on December 26, 2023. The practitioners’ lawyers argued that the Yantai City Domestic Security Office, which issued a letter to “authenticate” Falun Gong materials confiscated from both women as “cult propaganda,” didn’t have the authority to do so. As a law-enforcement agency, there is an obvious conflict of interest for them to issue anything regarding the evidence. By law, only an independent, third-party forensic agency can examine and verify prosecution evidence. As such, the letter from the Domestic Security Office and the evidence they “authenticated” should be rendered invalid.
During the evidence cross-examination stage, prosecutor Wang Fei played a video clip to show a person wearing a yellow helmet riding an electric motorcycle, with another person on the motorcycle. Even though the video didn’t show the faces of two people clearly, Wang claimed that it was Ms. Chen who was giving Ms. Jiao a ride and they were on their way to distribute Falun Gong materials.
Ms. Chen said that she didn’t have such a yellow helmet. Even if it was her in the video, Wang did not have any evidence to prove that she was on her way to distribute Falun Gong materials.
Ms. Chen’s lawyer demanded her acquittal. He added that it’s his client’s freedom of religion and expression to practice their faith and let people know about it. She didn’t do anything wrong and shouldn’t be convicted. The prosecutor ignored his statement.
Judge Zhao Yu sentenced both women to two years on March 12, 2024.
Ms. Jiao’s Previous Two Labor-Camp Terms
This isn’t the first time that Ms. Jiao has been persecuted for her faith. She previously served two labor camp terms for a total of three years and was subjected to torture and brainwashing.
Given One-Year Forced Labor in 2004
One summer day in 2003, when Ms. Jiao was still living in Tianjin, officers from the Shengli Police Station showed up at her door and demanded to check if she had Falun Gong materials in her home. They also ordered her to go to the police station to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. Ms. Jiao refused to open the door or comply with their demands. Fearing further persecution, she left home in the middle of the night. The police broke in the next day to search her place. She was forced to live away from home for more than six months to avoid the police.
On April 14, 2004, not long after Ms. Jiao returned home to reunite with her husband and fourth grade-age child, she was arrested by officers of the Shengli Police Station and given one year at the Banqiao Women’s Forced Labor Camp in Tianjin.
In the labor camp, Ms. Jiao was forced to stand and watch TV programs that smeared Falun Gong all day long. The guards also held her in an isolation room, where the walls had slogans slandering Falun Gong written on them and the floor was covered with photos of the founder of Falun Gong. One guard ordered her to step on the photos. When Ms. Jiao refused, guard Xia Chunli slapped her face. Another guard Liu Junying tore one photo and had the inmates put the pieces into Ms. Jiao’s shoe.
Because Ms. Jiao refused to do the unpaid labor, the guards forced her to stand for four days straight, with only two hours of sleep each night. This torture was repeated several times. The guards also tortured Ms. Jiao’s cellmates to incite their hatred towards her and increase her mental pressure in order to force her to renounce Falun Gong.
Given Two-Year Forced Labor Term in 2009
Ms. Jiao was arrested again on February 8, 2009 for distributing Falun Gong materials in Tianjin. She had injuries on her face and neck after being beaten by the police. She was first held at the Jinnan District Detention Center and later transferred to the Banqiao Women’s Forced Labor Camp to serve a two-year term.
For refusing to do the unpaid labor, she was again forced to stand for four days straight with very little sleep in between. She was also held in solitary confinement, subjected to brainwashing and longer periods of sleep deprivation. The guards also instigated drug-addicts to beat her.
In a new campaign ordered by the Tianjin 610 Office in August 2009 to escalate the torture of practitioners who didn’t renounce Falun Gong, the guards prepared a specific room, put the photo of Falun Gong’s founder in a sandbag and ordered the practitioner to hit the sandbag. Some guards also ordered practitioners to step on the photos of Falun Gong’s founder.
Ms. Jiao’s term was extended by five days because she held firm to her faith.
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