(Minghui.org) It was recently confirmed that Ms. Zhong Yimei from Bijie City, Guizhou Province, was sentenced to seven years for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhong Yimei, 43, was arrested in June 2020 and taken to the Bijie City Detention Center. Her family was not given an official notification of her case status. They learned about her prison sentence from an insider but have no idea of when she was indicted, tried, or sentenced. They call on people who know about her situation to reveal more details.
Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Zhong was sentenced to five years in 2011, also for practicing Falun Gong. Her father was so distraught that he died the day after she was admitted to prison on November 8, 2011. Her employer fired her soon afterwards.
Taking up Falun Gong
Ms. Zhong once wrote about her positive experience after she began practicing Falun Gong, “For two years, my head always felt heavy and I struggled to even open my eyelids. I was also constantly dizzy and drowsy. I couldn’t concentrate on my studies. I got injections and took pills, but nothing helped. A family member suggested I give Falun Gong a try. As soon as I started doing the Falun Gong exercises, my symptoms lessened and my mind became clear, sharp, and responsive. My academic performance quickly improved.”
Sentenced to Five Years in 2011
After she graduated from college, Ms. Zhong landed a job at the Bijie City Vocational Technical Senior High School.
In early 2011, she talked to a school administrator about Falun Gong, and principal Zhou Guangming reported her to the Bijie City Domestic Security Office. On January 5 that year, another principal, Yan Shikang, kept her in his office until a group of officers came and took her away. The arresting officers included Wang Jianrong (head of Bijie City Domestic Security Office and the municipal 610 Office), Wei Hong (an officer from the Qixingguan District 610 Office), Zhao Qianyue and Nie Shaoyuan.
The police took Ms. Zhong to her home and confiscated a large amount of valuables, including Falun Gong books, 5,000 yuan in cash, and a bank passbook designated to deposit her salary in, which had a balance of 19,000 yuan, a laptop, two Canon printers, two paper cutters, two staplers, a broadband modem, power strip, and printing paper, ink and other supplies, Falun Gong books, three MP3 and MP5 players, mobile phones and accessories.
After the home raid, the police took her to the Bijie City 610 Office for interrogation. She refused to answer their questions. They next took her to the Bijie City Detention Center.
Prosecutor Li Longxing of the Bijie City Procuratorate indicted Ms. Zhong after receiving her case from the police. She was tried in the Bijie City Court on May 31, 2011. Her lawyer from Beijing defended her innocence in practicing Falun Gong, but the court still sentenced her to five years when the verdict was announced in September, 2011. The judges and clerks involved in her sentencing included Wang Xiaolan, Wang Yong, Zhou Weina and Deng Shujun.
Ms. Zhong’s appeal was soon rejected by the Bijie City Intermediate Court. She was admitted to the Guizhou Province First Prison on November 8, 2011. Her father was heartbroken and died the next day. Her school terminated her not long afterwards.
Brainwashed and Tortured in Prison
The prison guards subjected Ms. Zhong to relentless brainwashing and torture aimed to force her to renounce Falun Gong. She once wrote about her suffering,
“They forced me to watch DVDs slandering Falun Gong from 9 a.m. to midnight every day. After that, I was not allowed to sleep but was forced to walk, run, or sit in the cell. They also did not allow me to use the toilet.
“Once a guard ordered a murderer to pinch my neck hard. It hurt so much that it felt like my bone was being pulled out. Another time Song Hongyan and others poured ice cold water all over me in the deep winter. They then deprived me of sleep for 24 hours straight. As soon as I dozed off, they poured cold water on me again. This torture lasted an entire week.
“There was another occasion when the guards ordered five inmates to punch and kick me, all the while cursing at me, because I refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. The guards also forced me to do hard labor when they were not torturing me.”
Targeted Again in 2015
In October 2015, Ms. Zhong filed a criminal complaint against former dictator Jiang Zemin for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Supreme People’s Court forwarded her complaint to the Bijie police, who soon went after her.
They arrested her in Pan County, Guizhou Province and confiscated 35,200 yuan in cash from her. The cash included 200 yuan of banknotes printed with Falun Gong messages [as all legal channels to appeal are blocked for Falun Gong practitioners, they use creative means, including printing messages on banknotes, to tell people about the persecution]. The police have not returned the confiscated money to her.
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