(Minghui.org) The Laizhou City Court in Shandong Province sentenced seven locals on May 20, 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Lin Hongjie was sentenced to eight years and fined 40,000 yuan. Mr. Xie Qingcai received five years and fined 20,000 yuan. Ms. Teng Qinghua, Ms. Fang Ruiqin, and Mr. Gao Rijun were each given three years and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Feng Guoping was sentenced to three years with four years probation and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Pan Zhaohua was given one and a half years and fined 5,000 yuan.
Arrests
It is unclear when Ms. Feng, Mr. Gao, and Ms. Pan were arrested, but the other four wrongly convicted practitioners were all arrested on the same day.
More than thirty agents from the Laizhou City Police Department and the 610 Office descended on the (Falun Gong informational) materials production site run by Mr. Lin, Mr. Xie, Ms. Teng, Ms. Fang, and Ms. Xiu Guozhi (whose case status remains unknown) on the afternoon of May 8, 2023. They seized the five practitioners and took them to a local police station for interrogation. Mr. Lin’s computer, printer, Falun Gong books and informational materials, copy paper and other supplies were confiscated. He remained detained that day, while the other four practitioners were released on bail hours later.
Mr. Lin was moved to a brainwashing center on May 10, 2023 and was released on bail nine days later.
Indictment
The Laizhou City Procuratorate called Mr. Lin at the end of August 2023 to notify him that they received his case from the Laizhou City Police Department. The procuratorate called Mr. Xie and Ms. Teng on September 1, 2023 and ordered the two to report to them on September 4.
Mr. Lin, Mr. Xie, Ms. Teng, Ms. Fang, Mr. Gao, Ms. Feng, and Ms. Pan were all indicted by prosecutor Wen Shaoting and had their cases submitted to the Laizhou City Court by mid-November 2023. It is unclear whether Ms. Xiu was subjected to prosecution.
Trial
The seven indicted practitioners appeared in the Laizhou City Court together on November 29, 2023. Each of the practitioners was appointed a lawyer by the court against their will. While the court-appointed lawyers tried to pressure their unwilling clients to admit guilt, the practitioners testified in their own defense and demanded acquittal.
The court held a second joint hearing on May 15, 2024. Mr. Lin and Mr. Pan were not notified and thus missed the hearing. The other five practitioners who did show up in court were not allowed to defend themselves.
All seven practitioners were issued guilty verdicts on May 20, 2024.
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