(Minghui.org) A resident of Wuhan City, Hubei Province was convicted in February 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice also known as Falun Dafa that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Xia Yulan was given two consecutive sentences – three months for an incident in 2020 and one and a half years for another incident in 2023. In total, she was ordered to serve one year and nine months.
This is not the first time that Ms. Xia has been targeted for her faith. She was previously sentenced to two years and ten months at an unknown date.
The 2020 Incident
Ms. Xia was talking to people about Falun Gong on the street one day in 2020 when she was seized by officers from the Meiyuan Police Station in Wuchang District. She was held at the Wuhan City Women’s Lockup for 15 days before being transferred to a brainwashing center. After several more months of detention, she was released on bail.
The 2023 Incident
Ms. Xia put up couplets on her door reading “Falun Dafa is good” during the 2023 Chinese New Year holiday. One of her neighbor’s relatives reported her to the police while visiting the neighbor. Days later, on January 28, 2023, several officers from the Meiyuan Police Station broke into Ms. Xia’s home and confiscated all her Falun Gong books. They detained her for one day before releasing her under house arrest the next day.
The Wuchang District Police Department built a case against her for “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used to frame Falun Gong practitioners. They submitted her case to the Wuchang District Procuratorate on May 16 and she was issued a formal arrest warrant on June 1, 2023. The local detention centers declined to admit her due to her poor health.
Indictment and Trial
Prosecutors Gong Xue and Chen Yulan indicted Ms. Xia on June 19, 2023. She stood trial at the Wuchang District Court on January 31, 2024. Presiding judge Zhou Hongjun did not allow her to read her defense statement and only asked the bailiffs to pass the statement to him.
Ms. Xia received her verdict on February 8, 2024. In addition to judge Zhou, judges Hu Kaikang and Sun Yanping, clerk Xu Hua, and judges’ assistant Deng Pingping also signed the ruling.
The verdict stated that Ms. Xia received one and a half years for the 2023 incident and three months for the 2020 incident. The two sentences are to run consecutively. It is unclear whether Ms. Xia has been taken back into custody to serve time.
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