(Minghui.org) A resident of Jilin City, Jilin Province was recently indicted for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Ms. Jiang Yongqin’s lawyer, who had been representing her since her arrest one year ago, was deemed “unqualified” after her indictment. The court threatened to appoint a lawyer to enter a guilty plea for her if she couldn’t find a new lawyer soon.
Ms. Jiang, 53, was sexually assaulted by the police, who also force-fed wasabi oil through her nose and placed lit cigarettes into her nostrils following her arrest on June 12, 2022. She has since been held at Jilin City Detention Center.
This is not the first time that Ms. Jiang has been targeted for her faith. She was previously sentenced to 3 years in prison following an arrest on September 26, 2009.
Ms. Jiang received her bachelor’s degree from Jilin University in Jilin Province, and master’s degree from Lanzhou University in Gansu Province. She landed a teaching job at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in Zhejiang Province after graduation. Her employer later terminated her for her faith, even though she had been a high-performing lecturer during her nine-year tenure there (she won multiple awards herself and coached her students to win a second place in a national design competition).
Ms. Jiang later moved back to Jilin City, Jilin Province after she was released from prison.
Authorities Obstruct Lawyer from Reviewing Her Case Documents, Visiting Her, or Representing Her
The authorities have been blocking her family and lawyer, Mr. Wang Shengsheng, from reviewing her case documents or meeting with her since her latest arrest.
On August 19, 2022, Mr. Wang filed a complaint on her behalf against relevant parties at Jilin Province Public Security Bureau and Jilin City Police Department for arresting, torturing and sexually assaulting her. He delivered copies of the complaint to Jilin Province Procuratorate, Jilin City Procuratorate, Jilin City Supervisory Committee, Jilin City People’s Congress and Jilin Women’s Federation. Only the Women’s Federation accepted the complaint and promised to forward it to their supervising agency.
On September 27, 2022, Mr. Wang, along with Ms. Jiang’s sister Ms. Jiang Yonghua and a few other human rights lawyers (who did not represent Ms. Jiang), including Wang Yu, Wang Quanzhang, and Sui Muqing, filed another round of complaints against her perpetrators.
The complaints were addressed to Jilin Province Procuratorate, Jilin City Procuratorate and Longtan District Procuratorate. Mr. Wang again requested to visit Ms. Jiang at the detention center.
Jilin City Procuratorate turned away Mr. Wang saying that they had a meeting all day long. Jilin Province Procuratorate said that they had received the lawyer’s previous complaint and had sent it back to Jilin City Procuratorate for processing, but the latter stated that they were not aware of the former’s decision. Longtan District Procuratorate had someone meet with Mr. Wang and promised to get back to him regarding the complaint and visitation request. But he has not received any response at the time of writing.
After Ms. Jiang was indicted recently, Mr. Wang was told by his local judicial bureau that his law license did not meet their requirements and that he was thus not qualified to represent any client in court. Mr. Wang suspected they had altered his information in their database without his knowledge.
In China, lawyers usually do not need permission from their local judicial bureaus to represent their clients, but when it comes to Falun Gong cases, many courts require lawyers to get approval from their local judicial bureaus before they can represent Falun Gong practitioners. The courts in turn often pressure judicial bureaus to not allow lawyers in their jurisdictions to defend Falun Gong practitioners.
The Jilin City Court said that Ms. Jiang’s family had until May 31, 2023 to find her a “qualified lawyer”; otherwise they’d appoint a lawyer to represent her and enter a guilty plea for her.
It is unclear whether the family had been able to hire a new lawyer at the time of writing.
Sexually Assaulted Following Arrest
A group of officers broke into Ms. Jiang’s home at 7: 30 a.m. on June 12, 2022 and arrested her. Her cell phone and computer were confiscated. Her family members were also seized by the police and briefly detained.
Ms. Jiang was first held at the Xin’an Police Station. She was transferred to a hotel on the second day and monitored by the police around the clock. She was interrogated twice during the time.
On the afternoon of July 7 (or July 8), 2002, the police covered Ms. Jiang’s head with a black hood, plugged her ears, and took her to a secret facility.
Four men were present, including a torture expert from the Jilin Province Public Security Bureau, his assistant Li, and two men, surnamed Tang and Lyu, of Jilin City Domestic Security Office.
The four people handcuffed Ms. Jiang and demanded to know the password to her hard drive. She refused to answer. The police then force-fed wasabi water into her nose and inserted lit cigarettes into her nose. As they were inserting the cigarette, it broke. The police left half of the cigarette in her nasal cavity, which she eventually coughed out.
After the first round of torture, the police then began to sexually assault her. They lifted her shirt. The torture expert then ordered the police to touch her chest.
After the police did it, the expert then used a special massager to stimulate her chest. Next, the expert forced Ms. Jiang to take off her pants. When her pants were halfway down, the police found she was menstruating. The expert claimed that the torture had the best effect during menstruation and ordered the police to continue. Ms. Jiang almost collapsed and was in deep despair. She gave in and was forced to cooperate with the police in the interrogation.
Before the expert left, he threatened that if Ms. Jiang didn’t cooperate with them, he would go through things in his “torture toolbox” every day, which had toothpicks, strange instruments, drug bottles, and electrical wires. He added that he was usually conservative in torturing regular suspects with the “toolbox,” but when it came to Falun Gong practitioners, he was given free rein.
Related Reports:
Jilin Woman’s Uphill Battle Seeking Justice for Her Sister
Former College Lecturer Sexually Assaulted by a Torture Expert
After Her Third Arrest, University Teacher Jiang Yongqin’s Whereabouts Unknown
Teacher Jiang Yongqin of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Sentenced to Prison
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