(Minghui.org) Ms. Kong Xiangyin, 65, from Weifang City, Shandong Province was sentenced to two years and fined 5,000 yuan following a court hearing on September 26, 2023 for practicing her faith, Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Kong Xiangyin was arrested on July 23, 2023, after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a farmers’ market. The arresting officers from the Dongguan Police Station and the Kuiwen District Domestic Security Office ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and informational materials.
After the Kuiwen District Procuratorate indicted Ms. Kong the Kuiwen District Court heard her case on September 26, 2023. She testified in her own defense and explained how she benefited from practicing Falun Gong. She said her gynecological diseases, chest discomfort, stomach problems, and cervical spondylosis (an inflammatory arthritis of the spine) all disappeared after she began practicing Falun Gong in October 1997. Her character also improved and she became considerate of others.
Ms. Kong said that she did not answer any questions or sign any interrogation records following her latest arrest because she knew that anything she said or wrote would be twisted and used to incriminate her. As no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, it was perfectly legal for her to exercise her constitutional right to freedom of belief and freedom of speech. As such, her not complying with her perpetrators’ demands prevented them from committing further crimes by framing her.
Her lawyer also defended her innocence and demanded her acquittal. Prosecutor Tang Liang recommended she be given a two year prison sentence. Judge Guan Xiaowei adjourned the hearing without issuing a ruling. He later sentenced Ms. Kong at an unknown date.
Past Persecution
Because Ms. Kong held firm to her faith after the persecution began on July 20, 1999, she was repeatedly persecuted, especially at the hands of her employer, a local radio factory, which held her “in custody” even though the company was not a law enforcement agency.
Held in a Hotel for 9 Hours in July 1999
On July 28, 1999, eight days after the communist regime formally declared its intent to persecute Falun Gong, Ms. Kong’s supervisors deceived her into going to the Huaguang Hotel. She was held there for nine hours and watched by her coworkers. They ordered her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. The factory security guards also searched her home that night.
Detained over a Month Between November and December 1999
Ms. Kong went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in November 1999. She was arrested on November 22 that year while doing the Falun Gong exercises on Tiananmen Square. The arresting officers from the Tiananmen Square Police Station took her to the Weifang City Government’s Liaison Office in Beijing, where she was searched. They confiscated the 2,000 yuan in cash she was carrying. Her employer dispatched security guards to pick her up from Beijing and escort her back the same day.
Ms. Kong was again held at the Huaguang Hotel and watched by two coworkers. Four officers from the Weifang City Police Department, including Yang Zhaoyan, Hui Jian, and Ma Bo, interrogated her in the hotel and ordered her to write statements promising to not appeal in Beijing again or practice Falun Gong. They also fined her 2,000 yuan.
Her husband was summoned to the hotel to “work on” her. Under the intense pressure to make his wife submit, he fainted several times. Yang and Hui kicked him a few times and shamed him for not being able to handle his own wife. They extorted 500 yuan from him to pay for their gas to drive to and from the hotel and threatened to beat him up and detain him.
Du Zaiming, a factory security guard, handcuffed Ms. Kong and forced her to do difficult physical movements as punishment. He also did not give her anything to eat.
Ms. Kong was taken to the Weifang City Detention Center after being held for several hours at the hotel. The detention center guard photographed her and collected her fingerprints by force.
Seven days later, Ding Zhihui, another factory security guard, picked Ms. Kong up from the detention center and took her to their factory. They locked her up in a warehouse for more than a month, during which time she had to sleep on the floor and was only given rice to eat—no vegetables or meat. Her husband had to pay 4,000 yuan before being allowed to pick her up on December 29, 1999.
Head Injured During Arrest in June 2000
On June 16, 2000, Ms. Kong was intercepted while on her way to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong by Du Shicong, the then factory Party secretary, and a few security guards. They drove her home.
Ms. Kong visited another practitioner that night. Du somehow found out about it and led a few factory security guards to surround that practitioner’s home. He also called in officers from the Dayu Police Station, who broke in and ordered Ms. Kong and her host to turn in their Falun Gong books. While she tried to protect the books, Ms. Kong’s head was injured and bled profusely.
Arrested in Beijing Again in September 2000
Ms. Kong went to Beijing again on September 30, 2000. She was arrested on Tiananmen Square. An officer kicked her chest, and she was in so much pain that she collapsed and could not talk.
The police drove her to the Sijiqing Police Station in Beijing, where she was forced to stand facing a wall for extended periods of time. On the third day, she was taken to a detention center and forced to sit on a small stool for long hours. Three days later, she was taken to the Weifang City Government’s Liaison Office in Beijing and held there for one night.
On October 13, 2000, Ms. Kong was brought back to Weifang and held at the Dongguan Police Station. Five hours later, her employer picked her up and took her to Huaguang Hotel. The next day, she was taken to the Weifang City Detention Center. She was released ten days later on October 24, 2000, but not before she was forced to pay a fine of 1,500 yuan.
The very next day, then factory Party secretary Li Qiyi led security to the detention center, intending to take Ms. Kong to a brainwashing center. They were infuriated to learn that she was released the day before. They soon found out that she was staying at her parents-in-law’s home and went there to pick her up. She asked them not to frighten her father-in-law, who had dementia.
Li said, “You must go to the brainwashing center tomorrow no matter what!” He had people watch outside Ms. Kong’s parents-in-law’s home to monitor the family. In order to lessen the pressure on her family, Ms. Kong scaled the wall and escaped that night. Afterwards she lived away from home for a period of time.
Held in a Warehouse for 15 Days in 2005
On May 11, 2005, the radio factory deceived Ms. Kong and several other employees who also practiced Falun Gong into going to a warehouse for a “meeting.”
They were all held there for two weeks.
Mother and Daughter Detained for 7 Hours and Fined 10,000 Yuan in 2008
Captain Chen and more than twelve officers, including Gu Zhiyong, from the Kuiwen District Police Station broke into Ms. Kong’s home at 9 a.m. on December 23, 2008. Her daughter was still asleep. She woke up and condemned the police for arresting people without legal documents. Gu flashed a blank form and said they could fill it out then and there.
Four officers carried Ms. Kong and her daughter to their cruiser and drove them to the police department. The mother and daughter were held for seven hours. Ms. Kong’s husband had to pay 10,000 yuan to get them released.
Twice Arrested in 2013
Ms. Kong was arrested on the morning of March 8, 2013, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a supermarket. The Weicheng Police Station officers searched her and snatched her bag. They took her to the Weifang Second People’s Hospital for a physical exam.
When she refused to cooperate, three police officers held her down so a nurse could draw her blood. She was covered in bruises. They then took her back to the police station, detained her for 12 hours, and extorted 10,000 yuan from her before releasing her around 10 o’clock that night.
Ms. Kong was buying groceries on November 19, 2013, when she was arrested and taken to the Nanliu Police Station. She was interrogated and had her picture taken against her will.
Four hours later, the police drove her to the Weifang Second People’s Hospital for a physical exam. The nurses drew her blood and gave her an electrocardiogram. The police then drove her to the Weifang City Detention Center, which refused to admit her.
Officer Ding from the Weifang City Domestic Security Office and five others raided Ms. Kong’s home while she was in custody. They confiscated two computers, 600 yuan in cash, a bronze tripod (worth 4,600 yuan), a MP5 player, and two sets of Falun Gong books. After extorting 5,000 yuan from her family, the police released Ms. Kong at 11:30 p.m. the same day she was arrested.
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Category: Torture of Women
