Reported in July 2023: 74 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith

Wife Sentenced for Her Faith, Husband Jailed for Seeking Her Release

After Ms. Yu Yanhua, 64, from Anda City, Heilongjiang Province was sentenced to five years in prison for her faith in Falun Gong, her husband was also sentenced, to four and a half years, because he asked that she be released.

Ms. Yu Yanhua (also known as Yu Xiaohua) was arrested on July 30, 2022 because she talked to people about the persecution of Falun Gong. Her husband was arrested days later when he asked that she be released. It is unclear whether he also practices Falun Gong.

Ms. Yu’s huband was tortured while being held at the Anda City Detention Centre, and his health quickly deteriorated. The authorities released him 35 days later after his legs became very swollen, but placed him under house arrest.

His condition continued to worsen and he went to various hospitals in Daqing City and Harbin City for treatment. He was diagnosed with numerous diseases, including chronic kidney disease, type II diabetes, and heart problems. Despite his poor health, he was taken back into custody after his sentencing. His wife was released on bail at one point, but was also ordered back into custody.

Ms. Yu’s latest sentencing was preceded by numerous prior arrests and three two-year forced labor terms.

 

Health Declines Due to Torture in Custody

Hubei Man Given Second 4-Year Term, Tortured to Blindness in Custody

Mr. Shan Furong, a 58-year-old former employee of Jiangshan Machinery in Laohekou City, Hubei Province, was arrested on January 5, 2021, while distributing Falun Gong informational materials in nearby Gucheng County. His family knew only that he had been taken to the Gucheng County Detention Centre. They received no updates on his case from the authorities.

An insider told the family in July 2023 that Mr. Shan was now serving time at the Fanjiatai Prison after he was secretly sentenced to a four-year prison term, adding that Mr. Shan is now blind in both eyes as a result of torture.

This is not the first time that Mr. Shan was targeted for his faith. He was previously arrested multiple times and sentenced to four years following an arrest in 2015. His employer fired him after he was released in 2019. His wife could no longer cope with the regime’s pressure and divorced him. His mother was dealt another blow when he was arrested again in 2021. She died in late 2022, at the age of 86, without seeing her son one last time.

Guizhou Woman Tortured to Paralysis While Jailed

Ms. Liu Shuling from Zunyi City, Guizhou Province was tortured to paralysis while serving time for her faith in Falun Gong.

Ms. Liu’s ordeal began when the police raided her home on October 30, 2019. The police confiscated all of her printing equipment and supplies, which they claimed she used to produce materials that exposed the persecution of Falun Gong.

The police did not arrest her after the home raid, but they repeatedly returned to harass her. She was eventually arrested around late April or early May 2021.

Ms. Liu was held at the Zunyin City Second Detention Center before being transferred to the Guizhou Province First Women’s Prison to serve a possible six-year term. Her exact prison sentence remains to be investigated.

68-Year-Old Woman Secretly Sentenced for Her Faith, Now Suffering Poor Health in Prison

Ms. Zhang Guiping, 68, from Qingyuan County, Liaoning Province was sentenced to a three-and-a-half-year prison term for hanging a banner which had the words, “Falun Dafa is good.” Her health declined while she was incarcerated in the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.

Ms. Zhang was arrested on the night of July 30, 2022, when she hung the banner along a road. The Wanghua District Procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant for her in August 2022. The Wanghua District Court sentenced her to three and a half years in April 2023.

Ms. Zhang’s family did not learn of her sentencing or prison transfer, which took place on June 27, 2023, until a prison guard recently called them to say that “she was not in good shape.” He complained that she was stubborn and refused to renounce Falun Gong.

Because the court never contacted Ms. Zhang’s family during her prosecution, they were not even sure if a hearing was ever held before her sentencing.

 

Repeated Persecution

Twice Jailed for a Total of 12 Years, Real Estate Company Manager Gets Third Prison Term

After being imprisoned for 12 years, Mr. Pang You from Beijing was recently sentenced to one year and three months in prison, for his faith in Falun Gong.

Mr. Pang, a former city planning office director and real estate company manager, was arrested on May 2, 2022, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong two days prior, on April 30. His Falun Gong books, cell phones, and media player were confiscated. As he failed the physical examination required for detention, he was released on bail on May 3.

Mr. Pang, around 60, was arrested at home on July 28, 2022 and taken to the Changping District Detention Centre. His family received a call from the detention centre in early September informing them that Mr. Pang had been hospitalized after his feet became swollen and suppurated due to diabetes.

Mr. Pang’s lawyer was informed on November 7, 2022 that the police had submitted his case to the Changping District Procuratorate. He was indicted in early January 2023. The Changping District Court judge made him attend a virtual hearing on July 3 from his hospital room. His lawyer joined the session remotely from the courthouse. The lawyer told his family that during the attorney-client meeting days before the hearing, Mr. Pang was wheeled into the meeting room, as he could no longer walk.

It was learned in late July 2023 that Mr. Pang had been sentenced to a one-year-and-three-month prison term.

Mr. Pang’s latest sentencing was preceded by two prior prison terms for upholding his faith in Falun Gong. He was sentenced to eight years following his arrest on September 27, 2000. Less than one year after being released in 2008, he was arrested again on August 3 that year and later sentenced to four years.

Once Jailed for 14 Years, Former College Lecturer Gets Another 5 Years

Ms. Jiang Chunmei from Longjiang County, Heilongjiang Province, was sentenced in July 2023 to five years for her faith in Falun Gong. The Longjiang County Court did not give her a written copy of the verdict as required by law, and she feels that the court may have wanted to prevent her from filing an appeal.

Ms. Jiang was arrested on December 18, 2022. The police forced her to stand beside her bike, and attempted to take her photo as evidence to be used against her. She refused to comply and was blindfolded and forcibly carried into a police car. An officer punched her in the nose and chest.

While they were arresting her the police said that they were seeking to prosecute her for her earlier arrest on March 27, 2020, for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. Back then, the police took her house keys and ransacked her home. To avoid the persecution, Ms. Jiang lived away from home to hide from the police, only to be arrested again two years later.

The Longjiang County Court held a hearing of Ms. Jiang’s case on May 24, 2023 and sentenced her to five years in early July.

Ms. Jiang, a former lecturer at the Foreign Language Department of Mudanjiang City Normal College, Heilongjiang Province, has suffered relentless persecution in the past 24 years.

Both she and her husband, Mr. Jin Youfeng (also a Falun Gong practitioner), were arrested on October 22, 2003. Mr. Jin was sentenced to 13 years in Mudanjiang Prison, and Ms. Jiang was given 14 years in Heilongjiang Women’s Prison. At that time, their second son, Jin Panpan, was only 15 months old and was being breastfed.

Mr. Jin was brutally tortured in the prison. He was beaten, hung up, locked in solitary confinement, exposed to the freezing weather, starved, force-fed, and shocked with electric batons on his private parts. He contracted tuberculosis but was not released on medical parole until ten months later, in June 2008.

The couple’s older son was in his 20’s when Mr. Jin was released. Even though tuberculosis is highly contagious, he took care of his father day and night. He also became infected. Shortly after Mr. Jin passed away on January 21, 2009, his son died. He was only 23 years old.

Ms. Jiang was fired from her job after she was released. She moved to Longjiang County in Qiqihar City in 2018 to care for her parents and did part time jobs to make a living.

Having Served 7 Years in Prison, Gansu Man Gets Another Six Years

Mr. Jiang Minghui, a 50-year-old resident of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province was sentenced to six years and fined 20,000 yuan on July 10, 2023.

Mr. Jiang’s prison sentence stemmed from his arrest on August 4, 2021, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. After the Chengguan District Procuratorate approved his arrest on August 20, his wife, Ms. Wang Xiaojing, submitted a letter to the police, urging them to release her husband. The police still submitted his case to the Procuratorate, resulting in his indictment.

Judge Teng Xiaoqiong of the Chengguan District Court appointed a lawyer to represent Mr. Jiang and enter a guilty plea for him. He also deceived Mr. Jiang into signing an agreement to accept the court-appointed lawyer. He handed down a six-year prison sentence against Mr. Jiang on July 10, 2023.

Mr. Jiang, a former deputy director of Lanzhou City Machinery Bureau, was previously arrested in December 2004 for distributing information about Falun Gong. He was sentenced to seven years by the Chengguan District Court in July 2005. He was fired by the Machinery Bureau and his wife divorced him.

While incarcerated in the Lanzhou Prison, he was forced to do intensive unpaid labor, often peeling garlic for over ten hours a day. He had cuts all over his hands and the irritating odor and garlic juice only made the working conditions worse. After sitting in the humid and filthy room for long hours, he and many inmates developed scabies all over their bodies.

Mr. Jiang was held in a solitary confinement cell for over 50 days in early 2007 and was watched by four inmates. He was deprived of sleep, and the guards always kept the light on all night.

 

Sentenced for Speaking Up

Hubei Government Employee Sentenced to One Year for Putting Up Falun Gong Posters

A government employee in Anlu City, Hubei Province, was sentenced to one year in prison on July 3, 2023 for his faith in Falun Gong.

Mr. Fan Jinhe was arrested on January 26, 2023. The police claimed that through surveillance cameras they saw him putting up posters with information about Falun Gong.

Mr. Fan was first given 15 days of administrative detention, and then another 15 days of criminal detention. His arrest was approved on February 24, 2023. The police submitted his case to the Anlu City Procuratorate, which charged him with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used by the CCP to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners.

The Anlu City Court held a hearing of Mr. Fan’s case on June 20 and sentenced him to a one-year prison term on July 3.

Prior to his latest ordeal, Mr. Fan had been arrested for appealing for the right to practice his faith shortly after the onset of the persecution. He was also given two years at the Shayang Forced Labor Camp in October 2000.

Jilin Woman Given Three Years for Writing to Government Official and Urging Him to Stop Persecuting Falun Gong

Ms. Cui Yanling, 66, from Changchun City, Jilin Province was sentenced to three years in prison for urging a government official to stop following the Chinese Communist Party to persecute law-abiding Falun Gong practitioners like her.

Ms. Cui was arrested at home on the morning of September 9, 2021. The police targeted her per orders from an official at the Jilin Province Public Security Bureau. The official received a letter urging him to stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. After they viewed surveillance videos, the police concluded that it was Ms. Cui who mailed out the letter, and they tracked her down to her home.

Ms. Wang Ying, another Falun Gong practitioner who happened to be visiting Ms. Cui when the police came, was also arrested.

The Chaoyang District Court sentenced Ms. Cui to three years and Ms. Wang to two years and eight months on June 13, 2022. Both women were admitted to the Jilin Province Women’s Prison on July 14, 2023.

Mother of 4-Year-Old Sentenced to One Year for Talking to People about Falun Gong

A young mother in Miyun District, Beijing was recently sentenced to one year in prison for raising awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of her faith, Falun Gong.

Ms. Gao Yu talked to a man about the persecution of Falun Gong at a bus station in early 2023 when a woman named Liu Ling spotted her and video-recorded their conversation. Liu then reported her to the police.

Two officers from the Xibinhe Police Station broke into Ms. Gao’s home after 5 p.m. on February 6, 2023. They took her and her four-year-old daughter, Ranran, to the police station. Later that night, the police called Ms. Gao’s husband to pick up the little girl. With his wife detained, the young father had to turn to his mother, in her 60s, to help care for the child. The elderly woman is the main caregiver for her husband who has poor vision. She struggled to look after her granddaughter.

Ms. Gao went on a hunger strike for three days to protest the arbitrary detention. The police promised to release her if she signed a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She held firm to her faith and the police submitted her case to the Miyun District Procuratorate.

The Miyun District Court held a hearing on July 20, 2023 and sentenced Ms. Gao to one year in prison.

 

Violation of Legal Procedure

Yunnan Court Secretly Sentences Two Men for Their Faith, Refuses to Count Time Already Spent in Detention Toward Prison Terms

Two residents of Jinning District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province were each sentenced to three and a half-year prison terms in May 2023 for their faith in Falun Gong.

While both Mr. Gao Peifa, 60, and Mr. Gao Wenlong, 59, have been in custody since their arrests late last year, the Anning City Court ordered that their prison terms would start on the day of the sentencing, not the days of their respective arrests.

According to China’s criminal law, each day that a defendant spends in detention prior to their sentencing must be deducted from the prison term. The Anning City Court refused to acknowledge the days that the two Mr. Gaos already spent in custody, on the grounds that those happened during the COVID pandemic.

The court also did not notify the two men’s families of their virtual hearing. The families did not learn of the sentencing until they received a copy of the verdict in the mail from the court.

Mr. Gao Peifa, an employee of Erjie Town Factory 450, was arrested at work on October 10, 2022, while Mr. Gao Wenlong was arrested at home on November 1, 2022. Both men were transferred to the Anning City Detention Center on December 5, 2022.

The Anning City Court held a virtual hearing for the two practitioners’ cases in the Anning City Detention Centre in May 2023 without notifying their families. They were each sentenced at the end of the hearing. Their families were surprised to receive their verdicts in the mail and learn that their prison terms started on the day of sentencing, not the day of arrest.

Woman Loses Appeal Against Wrongful Conviction, Husband Given Runaround While Trying to File Motion to Reconsider Her Case

After Ms. Jiang Guixiu, 65, from Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province lost her appeal against a wrongful prison sentence, her husband filed a motion to reconsider her case, only to be given the runaround, and harassed by police.

Ms. Jiang Guixiu was arrested at home on May 17, 2022. Her husband, who does not practice Falun Gong, was also taken to the police station for interrogation. The police deceived her husband into revealing information about her Falun Gong practice, which was later used as prosecution evidence against her.

The Zhaoyuan City Court heard Ms. Jiang’s case on November 24, 2022. The presiding judge planned a second hearing in mid-December, but later canceled it and sentenced Ms. Jiang to three years in prison with a 10,000-yuan fine on December 21. She filed an appeal six days later, and the Yantai City Intermediate Court ruled on April 4, 2023 to uphold the original verdict, without holding a hearing.

In mid-June 2023, Ms. Jiang’s husband submitted a motion to reconsider her case to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and some agencies in Shandong Province.

He received a text message from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate in late June, stating, “We’ve received your motion. After reviewing it, we determined that it did not fall under our jurisdiction. We’ve forwarded your motion to the Shandong Provincial Procuratorate.”

Ms. Jiang’s husband received a text message in early July from the Shandong Provincial Procuratorate, which said that the case was not under their jurisdiction and that they forwarded it to the Yantai City Procuratorate, which oversees the Zhaoyuan City Procuratorate (the one that indicted Ms. Jiang following her arrest).

Around the same time, he also received a notice from the Shandong Province Judicial Bureau, which also stated that they were not in charge of handling his motion and that he should file his motion with the appropriate agencies.

A man from the Zhaoyuan City Court called Ms. Jiang’s husband in mid-July, and asked him not to file any motions to reconsider his wife’s case, since her appeal had already been rejected. He also said no agency would accept the motion because she refused to sign her original verdict and the appeals ruling. He refused to disclose where Ms. Jiang was being held.

Ms. Jiang’s husband vowed to keep fighting for justice for her. The caller then said he needed to submit three copies of the motion with his fingerprints to the Yantai City Intermediate Court and the Shandong Province High Court. He did so, and is still waiting to hear back from the two courts at the time of this report.

During the entire process, Ms. Jiang’s husband also faced constant harassment from the Zhaoyuan City Domestic Security Office.

Following her arrest, Ms. Jiang’s extended family initially did not tell her 94-year-old father about it, given his advanced age. But he grew suspicious as time went by and was eventually told everything. The once healthy and sharp man was so devastated that he suddenly fell ill. He was hospitalized and is still in the intensive care unit at the time of this report.