(Minghui.org) An 81-year-old Beijing resident was sentenced to three years with a 3,000-yuan fine on March 30, 2023, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Hu Xingxi filed an appeal with the Beijing City Second Intermediate Court. The appeals court’s presiding judge Wang Hongbo, assistant judge Wang Min, and a videographer delivered their ruling to uphold her original verdict to her home on June 2, 2023.
Ms. Hu refused to sign the paperwork and vowed to keep seeking justice for herself. The judges told her to file the motion to reconsider her case through the Fengtai District Court if she was determined to continue seeking justice (in China, appeals need to be submitted to trial courts for them to forward to appeals courts).
Ms. Hu questioned them if law-abiding citizens like her who follow Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person were convicted, then who would be deemed innocent by the authorities. They remained silent.
It is unclear whether Ms. Hu allowed the videographer to tape her conversation with the two judges. It’s also not clear whether Ms. Hu has been allowed to serve time at home or would be taken into custody soon.
Arrest and Sentencing
Police officers descended upon Ms. Hu’s home on April 23, 2020. Pretending to be interested in their rental property, they deceived her son into opening the door. Ms. Hu demanded to see the officers’ IDs, but they refused to show them.
Six of the officers held Ms. Hu and her son while the others ransacked their shared home. Ms. Hu’s Falun Gong books, three laptops, one printer, and five cell phones were confiscated.
Both Ms. Hu and her son Mr. Liu Xiaojiang were taken to the police station for interrogation. After a physical exam that afternoon, Ms. Hu was taken to the Fengtai District Detention Center, but the guards denied her admission based on her health. She was then taken back to the police station and held there overnight. Her son was released that evening. She was released on bail the next day.
A year later on March 22, 2021, the Fengtai District Procuratorate summoned Ms. Hu, but she refused to go. The police took both her and her son to the procuratorate on April 8. When she refused to sign the case document, the prosecutor was so angry that she shouted at her. She threatened to arrest Ms. Hu if she didn’t appear for two more summons on April 9 and 12. Ms. Hu didn’t comply. She also didn’t respond to the Fengtai District Court when she was summoned on May 12, 2021.
On November 8, 2021, a court staff member delivered Ms. Hu’s indictment to her and indicated that the judge was planning to hear her case at her home at 3 p.m. the next day. Due to the local COVID-19 outbreak, the hearing was canceled and postponed until February 8, 2023. The judge, Hu Chunsheng, delivered Ms. Hu’s verdict to her home on March 30. She was sentenced to three years and fined 3,000 yuan.
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