(Minghui.org) A former college math professor was sent to prison after her appeal against a wrongful conviction for her faith in Falun Gong was rejected. The prison authorities are attempting to block her from filing a motion to reconsider her case.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Wang Jiafang, 55, was arrested on October 27, 2017, after being reported for talking to people and writing letters to local park management about Falun Gong.
The Guangzhou City, Guandong Province resident was tried on April 9 and sentenced to 3.5 years on August 24, 2018 by the Liwan District Court. She appealed to the Guangzhou City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold the verdict.
Since the communist regime launched the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, the court system in Guangzhou City has closely followed the persecution policy to sentence practitioners. To date, the Guangzhou City Intermediate Court has never held an open hearing in Falun Gong practitioners' appeal cases, nor has it ever overturned any of their guilty verdicts.
Ms. Wang was taken to the Guangdong Province Women's Prison on December 18, 2018.
When her lawyer visited her on February 2, 2019, Ms. Wang told the lawyer that she would write the motion to reconsider her case herself and then mail it to the lawyer.
The lawyer never received anything from Ms. Wang, so he went back to the prison on April 3. This time, he was denied visitation and told that a meeting with his client would have to be approved by the higher management. It became clear to the lawyer that the prison authorities are blocking Ms. Wang from filing the motion and her prepared document was very likely withheld by the officials.
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