(Minghui.org) A Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province resident is facing indictment for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Xiao Kun was arrested outside her apartment building at 5 p.m. on August 23, 2023 by officers Shi Wei, Yang Ziheng, and their five colleagues from the Acheng District Police Department. Her sister, Ms. Xiao Yang, who happened to be with her, was also arrested. The police raided the sisters’ homes and confiscated their Falun Gong books, laptops, printers, cell phones and other valuables.
The sisters were interrogated at the police department until midnight. Ms. Xiao Yang was then released and Ms. Xiao Kun was taken to the Harbin City Second Detention Center, where she remains.
The police interrogated Ms. Xiao a few more times at the detention center, and she refused to answer their questions or sign their interrogation records. They thus barred her family from visiting her.
The Acheng City Procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant against Ms. Xiao on September 7 and received the case against her from officer Wang (+86-15146621271) in mid-November. Prosecutor Li Qian (+86-451-51087019) is in the process of filing an indictment against her.
This is not the first time that Ms. Xiao has been targeted for her faith. She and her sister were previously both sentenced to seven years following their arrests at their co-owned photography studio on December 31, 2011. The arresting officers from the Heping Road Police Station used a master key to open the studio door and seized them. The police confiscated the sisters’ photography equipment, laptops, computers, cameras, and Falun Gong informational materials.
The Xiao sisters were interrogated with torture and forced to sign and fingerprint interrogation records. Their lawyer noticed inconsistencies in the police-supplied evidence, including different dates of the sisters’ arrest on different forms.
The sisters stood trial at the Liming Court on May 18, 2012 and were both sentenced to seven years on September 19 that year. They served time at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison, where Ms. Xiao Kun was once held in solitary confinement for 15 days. She and her sister were released on December 30, 2018.
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