(Minghui.org) A 58-year-old Qian’an City, Hebei Province resident was sentenced to three years in prison in July 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Ms. Wen Qingfang has filed an appeal with the Tangshan City Intermediate Court.
Ms. Wen was arrested on August 1, 2022 and taken to the Tangshan City No.1 Detention Center. She lost a significant amount of weight after nine months of detention, but she appeared to be in a good mental state when she appeared in Qi’an City Court on April 27, 2023. She refused to be represented by the court-appointed lawyer, but acted as her own lawyer and entered a not guilty plea.
The court held a second hearing in mid-June 2023 and sentenced her to three years one month later.
Ms. Wen’s arrest came after seven years of displacement to hide from the police. Following an earlier arrest on December 15, 2015, she was found to have a medical condition and denied admission to the local detention center. She went into hiding after being released, but the three practitioners arrested with her were kept in custody and later sentenced to prison: Ms. Wan Yonghong was sentenced to 4 years, and both Ms. Zhou Xiuxia and Ms. Liu Xiaoyuan to 3.5 years.
Following Ms. Wen’s latest arrest, the police quickly worked with prosecutor Wang Xiaojing to restart her prosecution process.
During her first hearing in April 2023, prosecutor Wang accused Ms. Wen of violating Article 300 of the Criminal Law, which stipulates that anyone using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Ms. Wen refuted that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult; hence Article 300 did not apply to her case.
Ms. Wen questioned Wang, “Please tell me which law’s enforcement was undermined by me?” Wang remained silent.
Ms. Wen demanded to read in court the book Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, which sheds light on the deceiving and killing history of the regime. The presiding judge, Wang Ziliang, rejected her request. He, along with his assistant judges Wang Hong and Xu Fu, held a second hearing two months later and convicted Ms. Wen in July without legal basis.
Past Persecution
Ms. Wen used to work for the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Qian’an City. She started practicing Falun Gong in April 1998. Soon after, her energy level increased, and her psoriasis and limb weakness disappeared. After the persecution began one year later, she held firm to her faith and suffered repeated persecution. For details of her past persecution, please read the related report.
Related Report:
Hebei Woman Arrested After Seven Years of Displacement, Tried for Practicing Falun Gong
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