(Minghui.org) After 75-year-old Ms. Li Zhanjin was taken to the Beijing Women’s Prison to serve a five-year term for her faith in Falun Gong on December 27, 2021, the retired senior engineer in Beijing wasn’t allowed to meet or call her family once.
The authorities also suspended Ms. Li’s pension, citing a new policy that retirees serving time aren’t entitled to any retirement benefits, even though Chinese labor law has no such stipulation.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li was arrested at home on September 29, 2019. The night before, at 9 p.m., a residential committee director had knocked on her door but then claimed that he came to the wrong place. In hindsight, Ms. Li suspects the man was just trying to confirm she was at home.
While ransacking her place, officer Zhao Hainan claimed that he was from the Haidian Police Station, and he showed a blank search warrant with no signature or official seal. The police did not provide a list of confiscated items.
When Ms. Li appeared in the Haidian District Court in November 2020 for the first time, the judge arranged residential committee staff members to attend the session, without informing her family.
Ms. Li testified in her own defense. She argued that while prosecutor Zhao Yi accused her of mailing letters about Falun Gong, he provided no explanation of how he obtained the letters, nor did he exhibit any of the letters in court. She added that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China, and that she didn’t violate any law by owning Falun Gong materials or even mailing them.
When Ms. Li said that Qiao Shi, former chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, concluded from a survey in 1998 that Falun Gong brings all kinds of benefits and no harm to society, judge Tan Yicheng interrupted her and ordered the bailiff to remove her from the courtroom. The hearing was adjourned in less than 30 minutes.
The judge held another hearing in February 2021. Ms. Li’s court-appointed lawyer did not attend the session. The judge didn’t allow her to talk, and wrapped up the hearing in less than ten minutes.
Ms. Li received the verdict in June 2021, which specified that she was sentenced to five years with a 5,000 yuan fine for mailing over 400 letters about Falun Gong and for having Falun Gong books at home. She appealed with the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court.
Ms. Li’s court-appointed lawyer, who is usually instructed to enter a guilty plea for Falun Gong practitioners, sided with Ms. Li in her appeal. The lawyer said that the charges against her was groundless. The prosecutor showed no evidence to show how Ms. Li undermined law enforcement or the consequence of her alleged actions. Without such vital information, the charge couldn’t stand. On the other hand, it’s not clear whether the prosecution evidence went through proper authentication, whether the letters were original copies, and whether the police violated legal procedure in collecting the evidence.
The lawyer urged the higher court to acquit Ms. Li or order a retrial of her case. Judge Xiang Yang of the intermediate court announced in August 2021 to uphold Ms. Li’s original sentence.
Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Li was detained five times between July 1999 and January 2001. She was held in a brainwashing center for a month in April 2001 and given 1.5 years of forced labor in October 2001. She was sentenced to three years following her other arrest in December 2009.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Xiang Yang (项阳), judge of Beijing City No.1 Intermediate Court: +86-10-59891897Tan Yicheng (谭轶城), judge of Haidian District Court: +86-10-62697593Zhao Yi (赵轶), prosecutor of Haidian District ProcuratorateZhao Hainan (赵海楠), officer of Xiqu Police Station
Related reports:
After Multiple Arrests and Detention, Retired Engineer Arrested Again for Her Faith
Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Li Zhanjin, a Senior Engineer from Beijing, Illegally Imprisoned
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