Kunming City, Yunnan Province: 75 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith by 12 Judges Over 14 Years

 

 

Yang Xiaoping, born in May 1977, used to be the vice president of the First Criminal Division of Kunming City Intermediate Court. She became an assistant judge in 2003 and a judge in 2007. Later she was promoted to the presiding judge, and eventually a vice president of Panlong District Court.

While Yang served as a presiding judge of Kunming City Intermediate Court between April 2008 and January 2012, she worked with acting judges Yang Jie, Li Tan and Li Xinghu, and sentenced at least 36 Falun Gong practitioners to one to seven years in prison.

The following are select sentencings by Yang.

(1) Husband and Wife Convicted for Practicing Falun Gong

The deputy mayor of Kunming City ordered dozens of officers from the Wuhua Police Department to arrest Ms. Chen Yanyan at Kunming University of Science and Technology on May 20, 2008. On the same day they arrested her husband Mr. Xu Wei and ransacked their home. Yang and other judges tried the couple on March 26, 2009, and sentenced Ms. Chen to seven years and Mr. Xu to eighteen months.

(2) Three Years in Prison for Handing out DVD

Ms. Guo Lingna, 48, used to work at the Yunnan Guozi Cement Kunming Company. She was arrested after being reported for giving two students DVDs with information about Falun Gong on December 13, 2009.

Ms. Guo was tried on August 27, 2010, without her family’s knowledge. The DVDs were used as prosecution evidence of her “sabotaging law enforcement.” Yang and other judges sentenced Ms. Guo to three years.

(3) Elderly Women Put in Prison for Hanging up Falun Gong Banner

Three elderly practitioners, Ms. Peng Sufen, in her 70s, Ms. Zhang Meilan, 75, and Ms. Liu Rong, in her 30s, hung up a banner on an overpass on October 16, 2009. On the banner it said “Falun Dafa is good and the world needs Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.” The police arrested the three practitioners and ransacked their homes.

After their trial, Yang and other judges gave Ms. Peng and Ms. Zhang one year each. Ms. Liu’s sentence is unknown.

(4) Given Three Years for Refusing to Renounce Falun Gong

The police in Chenggong County arrested Ms. Zhu Rongzhen in early 2010 and put her in a detention centre. Because of the abuses, she suffered hypertension and heart failure. The authorities at the detention centre rushed her to Yunnan Province Hospital.

Yang and another judge formed a summary court and secretly tried Ms. Zhu in the hospital on December 23, 2010. Yang told Ms. Zhu that she could go home with a probation if she signed a guarantee statement promising never to practice Falun Gong again. Ms. Zhu remained steadfast and refused to comply. Yang sentenced her to three years in Yunnan Second Women’s Prison, where her health deteriorated and she was released on medical bail.

Yang Xiaoping was involved in the sentencing of the following practitioners:

Ye Baofu: six years
Yang Mingqing: four years
Ye Mao: four years
Su Kun: six years
Zhang Xiaodan: four years
Luo Minhu: three years
He Guizhen: three years
Liu Rongxian: three years
Li Huimin: three years (with five years probation)
Che Sikun: three years
Li Wenbo: five years
Gui Mingzhen: three years
Zhao Feiqiong: four years
Geng Shuhua: 18 months
Dong Zhikun: three years
Li Huiping: four years
Li Ruihua: three years
Wang Shulan: three years
Ling Li: five years
Yang Shuhua: three years
Li Peigao: three years
Peng Sufen: one year
Guo Lingna: three years
Long Huaxian: three years
Zhou Jin: three years
Jiang Runlin: three years
Dai Qiongxian: three years
Dong Guifen: three years
Zhang Xiuying: three years
Wang Yong: three years
Li Huiping: four years
Cheng Hongchou: three years (with three years probation)
Jiang Kun: 18 months
Zhu Dechao: six years
Wang Jinxian: three years
Yang Wenqing: three years
Qu Zebi: three years (with three years probation)
Zhou Xulin: three years (with three years probation)
He Jiaman: three years
Chen Yanyan: seven years
Xu Wei: eighteen months
Luo Minhu: three years
Yang Gongxiu: four years (with four years probation)

 

2. Yang Jie

Yang Jie served as a presiding judge of the First Criminal Division of Kunming City Intermediate Court until she left the position in 2012. While she was the presiding judge and acting judge, she put at least 45 practitioners in prison, with sentences ranging from 18 months to 7 years.

The following are select sentencing cases handled by Yang Jie.

(1) Husband and Wife Go Through Four Hearings and End up in Prison Without Evidence

The police from Panlong District Police Department arrested Mr. Su and his wife Ms. Zhang Xiaodan from home on May 4, 2012. Mr. Su Kun, 46, used to teach computer science at Yunnan National Defense Industry Vocational and Technical College in Kunming City.

Their first hearing was held on January 21, 2013. Judge Yang Jie adjourned the court in 30 minutes.

At their second hearing on April 7, Yang prohibited the couple’s lawyer from questioning. Yang claimed that she had to review and approve the questions the lawyer could ask them. The lawyer refused to comply and Yang adjourned the court.

The judge held the practitioners’ third hearing on May 24. During the cross-examination, the lawyer requested the prosecutor to display material evidence, instead of using photos or giving a few quotes as evidence in court. After the prosecutor failed to present any material evidence, Yang adjourned the court.

At the fourth hearing on July 2, the prosecutor claimed Mr. Su had installed computers for others free of charge and used it as an evidence of him practicing Falun Gong. With no evidence of crime, Yang still sentenced Mr. Su to six years and Ms. Zhang to four years.

(2) Given Five Years for Writing An Open Letter

Mr. Li Wenbo, 46, from Jinning County, was arrested for talking to others about the persecution of Falun Gong. He was given two years of forced labor at Yunnan Province Second Forced Labor Camp in February 2005. The guards in the labor camp tortured and beat him. He lost most of his vision, six teeth, and had a 20 cm (8 inch) scar on his leg. The authorities arbitrarily extended his sentence for four months and released him on June 21, 2008.

Mr. Li wrote an open letter to the residents in Jinning County to explain the facts of the persecution he suffered. In retaliation, the police arrested him and ransacked his home.

The then-acting judge Yang Jie and the presiding judge Yang Xiaoping tried Mr. Li at Jinning County Court on October 12, 2009, without informing his family. The judges gave him five years in Yunnan Province First Prison. The guards at the prison frequently beat him, which caused him to frequently vomit blood. His health decayed and the doctors at multiple hospitals found that he had bleeding and blockage in his digestive tract, severe anemia, and inflammation of his esophagus due to acid reflux.

(3) Family Kept in the Dark Until Prison Sends Notice

Ms. Luo Minhu, 50, worked at a software company in Kunming City. The officers from Xishan Police Department arrested her at work on June 23, 2011, and held her in Xishan District Detention Centre for over a year. Her family called the presiding judge Yang Jie trying to find out when her court hearing was, but the calls never got through.

The family never received her verdict from the court. Only when they received a Notice of Imprisonment did they find out that she had been tried and sentenced to three years. The authorities took her to Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison on August 23, 2012.

Yang Jie was involved in the sentencing of the following practitioners:

Ye Baofu: six years
Yang Mingqing: four years
Ye Mao: four years
Su Kun: six years
Zhang Xiaodan: four years
Luo Minhu: three years
He Guizhen: three years
Liu Rongxian: three years
Li Huimin: three years (with five years of probation)
Che Sikun: three years
Li Wenbo: five years
Gui Mingzhen: three years
Zhao Feiqiong: four years
Geng Shuhua: 18 months
Dong Zhikun: three years
Li Huiping: four years
Yang Gongxiu: four years (with four years probation)
Wang Shulan: three years
Ling Li: five years
Yang Shuhua: three years
Li Peigao: three years
Peng Su: one year
Guo Lingna: three years
Long Huaxian: three years
Zhou Jin: three years
Jiang Runlin: three years
Dai Qiongxian: three years
Dong Guifen: three years
Zhang Xiuying: three years
Wang Yong: three years
Gui Mingzhen: three years
Yang Shuhua: three years
Cheng Hongchou: three years (with three years probation)
Jiang Kun: 18 months
Zhu Dechao: six years
Wang Jinxian: three years
Yang Wenqing: three years
Qu Zebi: three years (with three years of probation)
Zhou Xulin: three years (with three years probation)
He Jiaman: three years
Chen Yanyan: seven years
Xu Wei: eighteen months.

 

3. Zhang Zhaolong

 

Zhang Zhaolong was born on December 6, 1969. He used to serve as the vice president of the Fifth Civil Division, vice president of the Case Filing Division, and vice president of the First Criminal Division in Kunming City Intermediate Court. He later served as a judge and the director of the Emergency Command Centre. In the years he acted as a presiding judge, he sentenced 10 Falun Gong practitioners to terms ranging from three to seven years.

The following are select sentencing cases by Zhang Zhaolong.

(1) Judge Interrupts Defendants and Lawyer

The officers from Wuhua Police Department arrested Mr. Han Zhenkun and his wife Ms. Guo Juan at home on April 23, 2004. A prosecutor from Kunming City Procuratorate indicted them in July. Mr. Han worked at Jinhua Hotel in Kunming in 1991. He was forced to quit his job in 2003 because of the persecution.

The couple’s hearing took place on August 24. The court announced that it was an open trial but allowed no spectator to enter the courtroom. When the couple’s relatives and other practitioners inquired about the trial outside of the courthouse, the police videotaped them, and based on the video, the police found and arrested several Falun Gong practitioners.

At the hearing Mr. Han asked the presiding judge Zhang why his defense lawyer did not show up. Instead of answering his question, Zhang questioned his signature on his Power of Attorney.

Zhang frequently interrupted the couple’s defense and prohibited Ms. Guo’s lawyer from defending her. Zhang gave Mr. Han seven years and Ms. Guo three.

(2) Given Three Years After Secret Trial

Zhang and another judge went to Anning City Detention Centre and held a trial of Ms. Gao Huixian in March 2004. Zhang did not inform any of Ms. Guo’s family members of this trial and gave her three years.

(3) Police Enter Wrong House and Still Insist on Arresting Practitioner

The officers from Xishan District Domestic Securities broke into Ms. Zhao Haiying’s home on June 2, 2011. At the time only her husband was home. Without identifying themselves, the officers turned the house upside down. After Ms. Zhao came home, the police realised that she wasn’t the person they wanted to arrest and that they had come to the wrong house.

Instead of making things right, the police claimed that Ms. Zhao’s husband browsed Falun Gong’s website and arrested him. “There are only two of you here, and I have to arrest one,” an officer said. The police then threatened Ms. Zhao not to tell others about the wrong arrest, or she’d be arrested as well.

The police put her husband Mr. Cheng Hongchou in Xishan District Detention Centre for “using a cult organisation to sabotage law enforcement.” The guards at the detention centre tortured Mr. Cheng and his health deteriorated. His legs became severely swollen. The authorities thus released him on bail.

Zhang, the then presiding judge, tried Mr. Cheng on March 13, 2012, without informing his family. Zhang sentenced him to three years in prison with a three year probation.

Zhang Zhaolong was involved in the sentencing of the following practitioners:

He Qiqiong: four years
Zhou Mofang: five years
Han Zhenkun: seven years
Guo Juan: three years
Gao Huixian: three years
Cheng Hongchou: three years (with three years probation)
Zhang Jingru: four years

 

4. Zhu Zhengyu

Zhu Zhengyu is a judge and vice president of the Second Criminal Division at Kunming City Intermediate Court. In the past he sentenced at least 27 Falun Gong practitioners to prison.

The following are select sentencing cases by Zhu Zhengyu.

(1) Elderly Man Arrested at Theme Park

Mr. Li Linshu, a retiree of Kunming Iron and Steel Company, went to Baishahe Theme Park with his wife and several Falun Gong practitioners. The officers from Wangjiaqiao Police Station arrested him at the park and put him in Wuhua Detention Centre. Four months later the presiding judge Zhu Zhengyu sentenced him to three years on February 26, 2008.

(2) Teacher Given Three Years in Secret Trial

Mr. Dong Zhikun, in his 50s, taught at Yunnan Forestry Technological College. The officers from Jindian Police Station arrested him in August 2008. Zhu Zhengyu, the presiding judge at the time, tried Mr. Dong in September 2009 without informing his family of the trial. Mr. Dong was given three years in prison. Only after he was taken to Yunnan Province First Prison, did his family receive his verdict.

(3) Elderly Woman Tried without Lawyer and Family Present

Ms. Zhang Jingru, 70, used to work at Kunming Iron and Steel Co. Her employer and the police broke into her home on May 5, 2002, and arrested her for giving out fliers that exposed the 2001 Tiananmen Self-immolation hoax. The court did not inform her family of her trial and she was not assigned a lawyer. Zhu Zhengyu was the presiding judge at her trial. Based on the Falun Gong fliers and DVDs the police confiscated from her home, Zhu sentenced her to four years in prison.

(4) Family of Three Imprisoned for A Letter Explaining Falun Gong

When Mr. Ye Fubao, former vice president of Yunnan Forestry Centre Hospital, planned to retire in 2005, the hospital refused to process his retirement and instead detained him for 283 days. Later Mr. Ye wrote a letter to the Party Commission of the hospital to explain why the persecution is wrong. The commission secretary reported the letter to the local 610 Office, which then ordered the arrest of Mr. Ye, his wife Ms. Yang Mingqing, and their daughter Ms. Ye Mao, for promoting Falun Gong.

A prosecutor from Kunming Procuratorate indicted the family. In his hearing, the presiding judge Zhu Zhengyu asked only one question, “Did you write a letter to the Party commission?” Mr. Ye defended himself saying that “writing a letter to complain about injustice is a citizen’s right.” Zhu interrupted his defense and adjourned the court.

Zhu later sentenced Mr. Ye to five years. His wife and daughter each got three years. His wife was convicted of the “theft of state secrets,” as she used to be an office director at work. When she received an order from the top to persecute Falun Gong, she took the document home because her husband was a practitioner. The daughter was found guilty of teaching her father how to browse the Internet.

Zhu Zhengyu was involved in the sentencing of the following practitioners:

Zhao Chenyu: three years
Wang Lan: four years
Mao Danxin: 18 months
Zhao Yongmei: three years
Zuo Lixin: 18 months
Li Junping: 18 months
Gao Hong: 18 months
Tian Yunbo: 18 months
Long Huaxian: three years
Zhou Jin: three years
Gui Mingzhen: three years
Tong Xianzhen: sentence unknown
Wang Zhimei: four years
Lin Tianqing: five years
Yang Muhua: three years
Zhang Jingru: four years
He Jiahua: one year
Dong Zhikun: three years
Geng Shuhua: one year
Gao Mingxian: 15 months
Wang Hongfen: four years
Wang Qionghua: three years
Sun Yongfen: three years
Li Linshu: three years
Zhu Yulian: two years
Deng Guiying: three years
Ye Baofu: five years
Yang Mingqing: three years
Ye Mao: three years

 

5. Hou Feng

Hou Feng, used to serve as a judge and vice president of the Second Criminal Division at Kunming City Intermediate Court. He later became a vice president of the First Criminal Division at Yunnan Province High Court.

While Hou served as a judge and presiding judge, he put at least 18 practitioners in prison for 18 months to four years.

The following are select sentencing cases by Hou Feng.

(1) Nine Practitioners Arrested on Tour to Tibet

Nine Falun Gong practitioners from Kunming City went to Tibet for a vacation in early July 2005. At the end of July the local police in Bomi County, Tibet, arrested them and sent them back to Kunming. The police in Kunming detained them and ransacked their homes.

Hou Feng, the presiding judge at the time, held a hearing on February 10, 2006. Hou convicted all of the practitioners for “using a cult organisation to sabotage low enforcement.” Ms. Wang Lan received four years, Mr. Mao Danxin eighteen months, Ms. Zhao Chenyu three years, Ms. Zhao Yongmei three years, Mr. Zuo Lixin eighteen months, Ms. Li Junping eighteen months, Mr. Sun Yunji three and a half years, Ms. Gao Hong eighteen months, and Mr. Tian Yunbo eighteen months.

(2) Eighty-year-old Given Three Years After Police Raid Home at Late Night

The officers from Daguan Police Station and Wuhua Domestic Security broke into Mr. Li Peigao’s home after 10 p.m. on June 21, 2008. One of them took him into his room while others called in a dozen more policemen to ransack his house. They confiscated his Falun Gong books, computer, two printers, two paper cutters, an e-book, and a hard drive. He was indicted in 2008, and judge Hou Feng sentenced him to three years in prison in 2009.

(3) Practitioner Tried in Secrecy without Lawyer

Hou Feng and two other judges went to Yiliang County Court on January 19, 2009, to try the case against Ms. Pei Shaofei. At the hearing, Ms. Pei had no lawyer to represent her and the authorities did not inform her family of the trial. Kunming City Intermediate Court sent her the verdict on February 23, 2009, and the judges gave her 18 months.

(4) Elderly Man Arrested at Home and Given Three Years

Mr. Zhu Guoqing, 80, is retired from the Kunming Cigarette Factory. Two dozen officers from Pianqu Police Station broke into his home on September 19, 2005, and videotaped everything while they raided the place. The police arrested Mr. Zhu and put him in Wuhua District Detention Centre. A prosecutor indicted him on February 10, 2006, for “using a cult organization to sabotage law enforcement.”

The then presiding judge Hou Feng and two other judges tried Mr. Zhu on March 15, 2006. His family was not allowed into the courtroom during the hearing. Hou sentenced Mr. Zhu to three years in prison with a three years probation.

Hou Feng was involved in the sentencing of the following practitioners:

Zhao Chenyu: three years
Wang Lan: four years
Mao Danxin: eighteen months
Zhao Yongmei: three years
Zuo Lixin: eighteen months
Li Junping: eighteen months
Sun Yunji: three years and six months
Gao Hong: eighteen months
Tian Yunbo: eighteen months
Yang Muhua: three years
Wang Zhimei: four years
Gao Huixian: six years
Shao Sicai: three years (with three years probation)
Yang Shuhua: three years
Pei Shaofei: eighteen months
Li Peigao: three years
Zhu Guoqing: three years (with three years probation)

 

6. Li Xinghu

 

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