(Minghui.org) A bedridden woman in Tangshan City, Hebei Province was tried and sentenced to 6.5 years at home for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
At 6 a.m. on August 10, 2021, six officers from the Huanggezhuang Town Police Station showed up at Ms. Wang Huilin’s home and demanded to take her to the police station to be tried by the Luannan County Court.
After Ms. Wang refused to comply, eleven people from the court went to her home at 9 a.m. The village secretary and doctor were also summoned by the police.
Ms. Wang’s daughter protested to the officials, who filled up her home, and said, “What are you doing here? My mom is almost 70, and she is now bedridden due to the persecution. What law has she violated? Why do you treat her like this?”
One court official replied, “This is our job. Please cooperate with us.”
Ms. Wang’s daughter continued to say, “Cooperate? If anything happens to my mom, can you be responsible for it? If you can’t explain clearly what law she has violated, you can’t have the hearing.”
The prosecutor went ahead and read out the evidence against Ms. Wang, including how she made Falun Gong books at home. Her daughter argued that all the evidence was fake. She said they didn’t have any of the machines needed to print books and that her mother, who had only finished the second grade in school, didn’t know how to use a computer. Even if she did print the books, she didn’t violate any laws, as she would be exercising her constitutional rights to freedom of belief and expression, her daughter argued.
In the end, the judge sentenced Ms. Wang to 6.5 years on charges of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Ms. Wang, who was very weak and confined to her bed at all times, asked the judge which law’s enforcement she had allegedly undermined, but he refused to answer. They left at around 11 a.m. It’s not clear whether Ms. Wang has been taken into custody at the time of writing.
Targeted in a Police Sweep
Ms. Wang was targeted in a group arrest on August 12, 2020, when over 100 police officers were mobilized to terrorize, arrest, and torture more than 50 practitioners, in an attempt to force them to give up their faith.
Huanggezhuang Town Police Station officers broke into Ms. Wang’s home at around 6 a.m. on August 12. Her husband Mr. Zuo Desheng and daughter, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, were also arrested. Both of them were soon released, with Mr. Zuo being placed under police surveillance.
Ms. Wang was taken to the Fengnan District Detention Center on August 15. Although she was released because of her hypertension, the town officials kept coming back to harass her and tried to coerce her into signing statements to renounce Falun Gong. Ms. Wang refused to comply and urged the officials not to participate in the persecution.
Zuo Xiucang, secretary of Honghuayuan Village, and Liu Ziyan from the Huanggezhuang 610 Office went to Ms. Wang’s home on September 9 and ordered her to sign the statements again. She refused and the officials threatened to take her daughter’s job away.
On September 25, 26 and 27, the officials forced Ms. Wang to have her blood pressure measured in the local hospital. They arrested her on September 28 despite her high blood pressure of 210/110 mmHg. The police put her in Tangshan City First Detention Center, where she still refused to sign the statements. She was released the same day.
Officers Dong Xuefeng and Feng Lei went to Ms. Wang’s home on October 20 and had her family sign an arrest warrant. Two people from the local procuratorate visited her a week later on October 28 and wanted her to sign a piece of paper that slandered Falun Gong. She refused to comply.
Two officers took Ms. Wang to the Huangezhuang Police Station on January 6, 2021, and ordered her to sign a house arrest document. She refused. She again tried to persuade the officers not to persecute Falun Gong. They didn’t listen and threatened to retaliate against her.
Twelve Others Sentenced
In addition to Ms. Wang, twelve other practitioners, including her husband Mr. Zuo, arrested in the police sweep all had their cases submitted to the procuratorate.
Among them, Ms. Zhang Zhilan, Ms. Cui Shuyu, Ms. Li Yuying, and Ms. Tong Xiulan were detained at the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center. Mr. Hou Jianguang and Mr. Wang Baozhu were held at the Fengnan District Detention Center. Mr. Liu Weili, Ms. Liu Jinying, Mr. Hu Yincang, Mr. Lu Lifa and Ms. Bi Guanqin were put under house arrest.
The Luannan County Court initially scheduled hearings for January 20-21, 2021, but later canceled the hearings due to local outbreaks of coronavirus.
Ms. Wang and the other twelve practitioners were tried by the Luannan County Court on July 20. Because she developed some symptoms midway through the hearing, she wasn’t sentenced on that day, but the other twelve practitioners were all sentenced to prison.
Mr. Liu was sentenced to ten years, Ms. Zhang to seven years, Ms. Tong three years, Mr. Zuo two years and six months, Mr. Hou one year, Mr. Wang eleven months, both Mr. Lu and Ms. Bi to six months and Ms. Cui to one year with two years’ probation. The terms of Ms. Liu, Ms. Li and Ms. Hu remain to be investigated.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Yan Baoming (闫宝明), head of Huanggezhuang Town 610 Office: +86-15175540444Zhang Hongbo (张洪波), vice president of Luannan County Court: +86-13933352595Liu Yansuo (刘彦锁), judge of Luannan County Court: +86-13832801128Cao Jingtao (曹景涛), prosecutor of Luannan County Procuratorate: +86-315-4123844, +86-315-4125828, +86-13933455828Cao Xubin (曹旭彬), prosecutor of Luannan County Procuratorate: +86-15027592215
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related reports:
Targeted in a Group Arrest, Six Hebei Residents Sentenced to Up to 10 Years in Prison
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