(Minghui.org) An Anguo City, Hebei Province resident was secretly sentenced to five years in late December 2020 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Jiang Feng was arrested at home on April 22, 2020, by a dozen officers. Her computer, printer, Falun Gong related materials, and even some copy paper were confiscated. The police took her to the hospital for a physical examination and asked her family to pay for the examination, but they refused.
Her family went to seek her release the next morning but to no avail. When they returned in the afternoon, the police had already sent Ms. Jiang to the Baoding Detention Center.
The police went to Ms. Jiang’s home on April 28 to harass her family. When her son refused to let the officers in, the police threatened to pry open the door. Ms. Jiang’s son then called his father, who was out running an errand. After he rushed back, the police attempted to collect more information about Ms. Jiang from them. When the father and son refused to comply, the police almost handcuffed and arrested them.
Mr. Jiang’s family then hired a lawyer to represent her. When the lawyer went to the police station to inquire about her case in early July, the police asked him, “Do you know what the case is about?”
“Yes, I do. It’s about Falun Gong.” the lawyer replied.
The lawyer then showed the police some cases of Falun Gong practitioners being released or acquitted unconditionally. The police were surprised to hear that. They also admitted that it was the first time they had seen lawyers representing local Falun Gong practitioners.
The lawyer next went to the detention center to visit Ms. Jiang, only to be given the run-around between the detention center and the police station. After rounds of negotiation, the detention center approved his visitation request and said he could begin to make appointments after July 10.
On July 20, the lawyer met with Ms. Jiang in the detention center. He told her family after the visit that she had dangerously high blood pressure, chest pain, and shortness of breath. Although she was found to have these conditions during her arrest, the police forced the detention center to accept her.
Ms. Jiang’s family found Chen Yanqing, the police officer who arrested her, on the next day and demanded that he release Ms. Jiang. They described her condition and said her family had a history of asthma and her aunt died of a heart attack. They said if anything happened to Ms. Jiang during her detention, Chen would be held fully responsible for it.
Chen blamed the detention center for allowing the lawyer to visit Ms. Jiang. He refused to respond to the request to release Ms. Jiang on bail but asked her family about whether they had paid off their housing mortgage and whether their home had an elevator or garage. He claimed that because the procuratorate didn’t have such information, they refused to accept Ms. Jiang’s case, which only extended her detention further.
When Ms. Jiang’s husband went to the police station to inquire about her around August 20, he was told that the police had submitted her case to the Gaoyang Procuratorate. Chen told him that Ms. Jiang was doing fine and that it was just that her blood pressure was a little high. While talking to Ms. Jiang’s husband, Chen asked again about the purchase contract of their home and their other properties. He threatened to arrest him and said, “What will your two children do when you are also arrested?”
On December 25, 2020, the Gaoyang Court held a secret hearing for Ms. Jiang and sentenced her to five years. She is still held at the Baoding Detention Center at the time of writing.
When her family called the Gaoyang Procuratorate on January 7, 2021, to inquire about her case, the person who answered the phone only said that they had indicted her and forwarded her case to the Gaoyang Court, without mentioning a word about the verdict.
Only after her family called the Gaoyang Court did they find out about her sentencing. Her family asked why they were not informed of the trial so that they could have found a lawyer to defend her. The court staff member who answered the phone replied that the judge appointed a lawyer to represent her and there was no need for her family to hire a separate lawyer.
Ms. Jiang’s family is now preparing to appeal the case for her.
Related report:
Two Hebei Residents Still in Detention Months after Their Arrests
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