(Minghui.org) A Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province resident was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison with a 10,000 yuan fine and six months of house arrest by the Aimin District Court on April 25, 2023.

The prosecution evidence used against Ms. Zhu Yanhua included Falun Gong books and informational materials found at her home, as well as the fact that she had previously been given several administrative detentions for practicing Falun Gong. She denied having broken any law and vowed to appeal the verdict.

The judge said she was given ten days to file the appeal and the intermediate court has twenty days to make a decision about her appeal case. But at the same time, he also ordered her to start serving her six-month house arrest immediately after the sentencing. As she is denied contact with anyone during this time, she has no way to contact her lawyer to file the appeal.

Ms. Zhu’s ordeal began on June 12, 2020, when Sun Liang, the secretary of the community office, and another community worker went to her home and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Ms. Zhu refused to comply and tried to clarify the facts about her faith.

Between June and August 2020, the community office staff members and police officers monitored Ms. Zhu’s daily life. They followed her when she went out and videotaped her.

Two community workers and six police officers descended on Ms. Zhu’s home at 7 a.m. on August 14, 2020, claiming that she was videotaped by a woman for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police searched her home and confiscated the dress she was wearing in the video.

Due to the pandemic, the Mudanjiang City Detention Center refused to admit her. The police chief proposed to keep her at the police station for three days and then release her. But the political instructor Zhang Hua insisted on putting her in a detention center. He took her to the Bamiantong Detention Center, only to be told that they couldn’t admit her either due to her high blood pressure.

Wang Baolong, the head of the Yangming District Domestic Security Office, ordered her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She refused to comply.

Although Ms. Zhu was released on bail three days later, Zhang forbade her from leaving her home for a month. Her family was forced to sign her bail release document on her behalf.

The police arrested her again on May 19, 2021, but she was still denied admission to the detention centers due to her high blood pressure. The police returned on June 4 and put her on six months of house arrest.

On July 24 and July 26, 2021, the Aimin District Court called Ms. Zhu twice and ordered her to come over to sign certain documents to close her case. While it’s not clear whether she went, she was arrested again a year later on July 11, 2022, and had her Falun Gong books and bank cards confiscated. The police released her on the same day and said she was scheduled to appear in court on July 26.

To avoid being sentenced, Ms. Zhu decided to live away from home to hide from the police. After nine months of displacement, she returned home on April 22, 2023, only to be seen by the police and arrested shortly after. As she was again denied admission to the detention centers, the police took her home and put her on house arrest. She was made to stand trial at the Aimin District Court three days later on April 25 and was convicted.

In addition to the above-documented persecution, Ms. Zhu was previously arrested on January 18, 2018, and held at the Mudanjiang City Detention Center for ten days.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Wang Baolong (王宝龙), head of Yangming District Domestic Security Office: +86-13845366655, +86-15504532208, +86-18045395909Jiang Bingbing (姜冰冰), judge of Aimin District Court: +86-18645777036, +86-13945325888, +86-453-8909486