(Minghui.org) A Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, resident who had been out on bail was deceived into reporting to the police on January 23, 2024, only to be taken back into custody on arrival. Her husband found out later that day that she had been sentenced to one year for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Neither they nor her lawyer have received a written copy of her verdict at the time of writing.
Ms. Deng Guojun’s ordeal stemmed from her arrest at around 6 a.m. on September 19, 2022, by six officers, including Chen Zhoujun and Wu Fangfang, from the Gaoping District Domestic Security Office. They confiscated her Falun Gong books, computer, printer and other valuables, before taking her and her husband, Mr. Chen Daiyou, also a Falun Gong practitioner, to their office for interrogation in two different rooms. The couple were released on bail past 11 p.m. that night.
The police summoned the couple on December 28, 2022 for another round of interrogation and forced them to sign interrogation records which contained fabricated evidence against them.
Officers Chen and Wu submitted two separate cases against Ms. Deng and her husband to the Gaoping District Procuratorate on March 31, 2023. Another officer, surnamed Tang, called Mr. Chen on the morning of May 12 and ordered him and his wife to report to them that afternoon. The couple refused to comply.
Prosecutor Luo Ruixue put the couple on bail beginning March 31, 2023 and later mailed the bail notice to the Wufeng Police Station. Officer Wu Kairong of the police station summoned the couple on May 15 and deposed them in his office that afternoon.
The Gaoping District Domestic Security Office summoned Ms. Deng on June 21 and asked if she had submitted her persecution account to Minghui.org. They accused her of “colluding with overseas forces.”
Prosecutor Luo submitted Ms. Deng’s case to the Gaoping District Court on November 28, 2023 and she stood trial on January 8, 2024. Judge Zhou Xiaobing presided over the trial. Judges Ren and Zheng, as well as clerk Wang Ting, were also present.
Ms. Deng’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. She also testified in her own defense. She was allowed to go home after the court hearing.
The Gaoping District Domestic Security Office called Ms. Deng on January 22, 2024, ordering her to report to them that afternoon to discuss a certain matter. She said they could talk on the phone but the caller said the matter had to be discussed in-person. Ms. Deng went to the domestic security office the next morning, only to be seized upon arrival and taken to a hospital for physical examination. She was found to have a systolic blood pressure reading of 240 mmHg (when a normal range is no more than 120 mmHg), but the police still got her admitted to the Nanchong City Detention Center that day.
Her husband Mr. Chen called her lawyer when she did not return home. The lawyer immediately called the Gaoping District Court and was told that she had been sentenced to one year in prison. The police were instructed to take her back into custody.
Ms. Chen used to be tormented by various diseases but became illness-free after taking up Falun Gong. Her husband said she should never have been sentenced for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief. He is in the process of hiring a new lawyer to appeal her verdict.
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