(Minghui.org) A Dalian City, Liaoning Province, resident serving 4.5 years for her faith in Falun Gong has been denied visits with her lawyer and subjected to various forms of abuse in prison.
Ms. Song Xiaomei, around 51, was arrested on June 1, 2021,, after the police discovered that she had tweeted information about the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong during a trip to Japan. She stood trial on November 29, 2021, and was sentenced to 4.5 years shortly afterwards. She was transferred to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on March 28, 2023.
After spending a few days in Ward Two for newly admitted inmates, Ms. Song was assigned to Ward 12 on April 3, 2023, a division designated to hold steadfast Falun Gong practitioners. Dubbed “a prison in prison,” Ward 12 was notorious for resorting to the most despicable means in an attempt to break the practitioners’ will and make them renounce Falun Gong.
Because Ms. Song refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong, the guards forced her to stand for long hours and did not let her sleep or use the restroom. She wasn’t allowed to change after she was forced to relieve herself in her pants. They also opened the window to freeze her. After four days of torture, she was forced to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong.
For three months after that, Ms. Song was forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong repeatedly. The guards also forced her to answer questions that slandered Falun Gong. On June 30, 2023, officials of the Liaoning Province Justice Bureau came to Ward 12 to examine the Falun Gong practitioners who had been "transformed" and videotaped them. Ms. Song was transferred to Ward 5 to do forced labor on July 18, 2023.
Ms. Song’s family was allowed to visit her once after her prison admission, and her daughter received two letters from her. Her lawyer went to the prison on October 27, 2023, but was not allowed to see her even though he had already secured approval from the appropriate agencies. The lawyer wrote down the badge number of the guard who turned him away and is now in the process of filing a complaint against the guard.
Arrest and Sentencing
Ms. Song was arrested at home on June 1, 2021. The police refused to show their ID's, even after her family repeatedly asked them to. Over 70 of Ms. Song’s Falun Gong books, several cellphones, and a computer were confiscated.
Officer Meng Fanyu hit Ms. Song on the head and verbally abused her at the Fude Police Station. He ordered her to unlock her cellphone. She refused to comply and her blood pressure increased. The police also tried to trick her family into testifying against her by promising to give her a lighter sentence should they cooperate.
The police revealed that Ms. Song tweeted information about the persecution of Falun Gong and “slandered” the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during a trip to Japan and her posts were retweeted by several people. Because of that, she was charged with “undermining law enforcement” and her arrest was approved on June 17, 2021.
Ms. Song’s family later learned from her lawyer that officer Meng had beaten her following her arrest in an attempt to make her reveal her cellphone pass code. Her blood pressure suddenly shot up as a result of the beating and the mental pressure. Her loved ones tried to talk to Liu Xiaoyi, the chief of Fude Police Station, about filing a complaint against Meng. Liu refused to meet with them. Another officer, Lin Dekun (badge number 216898), said to them, “We won’t address any complaint about [the persecution of] Falun Gong. You can file the complaint with whomever you want.”
Her family called the Wafangdian District Procuratorate to protest Meng’s illegal behavior. The officer who answered the phone kept asking them if they had finished talking. He said his supervisor would decide what to do and hung up. When Ms. Song’s family tried to follow up, the same officer said, “How would I know what my supervisors would do.” He hung up again and refused to answer the phone after that.
Ms. Song was indicted at an unknown date and appeared in the Pulandian District Court on November 29, 2021. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. Her family wasn’t informed of the hearing. She was sentenced to 4.5 years not long after her hearing. She filed an appeal, but the result remained unclear at the time of writing.
Related reports:
12th Ward in Liaoning Women’s Prison Designated to Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners
Liaoning Woman Sentenced to 4.5 Years for Tweeting about the Persecution of Her Faith
Liaoning Woman Faces Trial for Sending Twitter Message about Her Faith
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