(Minghui.org) A Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, woman is facing prison for refusing to give up her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
More than ten officers broke into Ms. Zhang Xiwei’s home at 10 p.m. on July 21, 2021. She tried to take photos of them, but an officer snatched her phone. They confiscated her copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong; a computer; a radio, an mp3 player; and several memory cards.
Ms. Zhang was taken to the Kunminglu Police Station and held until the morning of July 23, when the police took her for a physical exam. She was taken to the local detention center that afternoon.
After Ms. Zhang’s family hired a lawyer for her, the police retaliated by harassing her mother on August 18, 2021. They ordered the older woman to tell them who hired the lawyer and who reported her daughter’s case to Minghui.org. They threatened to arrest her if she didn’t cooperate.
The police later submitted Ms. Zhang’s case to the Yanta District Procuratorate. The Yanta District Court tried her via a video hearing on May 30, 2022. Her lawyer entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf.
Citing insufficient evidence, the judge later returned the case to the prosecutor. The prosecutor pushed the judge to have a second video hearing on August 16, when the prosecutor presented the same evidence as new evidence.
Ms. Zhang’s lawyer informed her family on November 23 that the judge had indicated his intention to sentence Ms. Zhang to four and a half years with a 10,000-yuan fine.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Yang Lin (杨琳), judge, Yanta District Court: +86-29-81200813Ping Jing (平静), prosecutor, Yanta District Procuratorate: +86-29-81156556Yan Meiming (闫楣明), head of the Yanta District Domestic Security Office: +86-13909215277
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