(Minghui.org) The Kunming City Intermediate Court in Yunnan Province ruled in May 2024 to uphold a guilty verdict against a local man for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.
Mr. Liu Zhiming, 50, was arrested on November 16, 2023 and indicted by prosecutor Zhang Liyun of the Xishan District Procuratorate about one month later. Judge Cheng Yijun of the Xishan District Court sentenced Mr. Liu to three and a half years with a 10,000-yuan fine on April 19, 2024.
Mr. Liu filed an appeal with the Kunming City Intermediate Court and requested an open hearing. His wife, Ms. Cheng Yun, 39, hired a relative to serve as his non-lawyer defender in his appeal case. She went to the Kunming City Intermediate Court on May 10, 2024 and called judge Jin Sihan in the lobby. Jin asked her to wait there. A man came downstairs after a while and Ms. Cheng gave him her relative’s application materials. He took a look and said that only direct family members could be non-lawyer defenders and must also have no criminal records. Ms. Cheng said by law anyone (even without blood relationship with the defendant) could be non-lawyer defenders. The man still refused to take her materials.
Ms. Cheng returned to the intermediate court that afternoon. She could not find anyone who would talk to her so she called judge Jin again. She again requested that Jin accept her relative’s application to be her husband’s non-lawyer defender. Jin claimed that they must investigate whether the relative met the requirements and demanded to see proof of his relationship with Mr. Liu and no criminal records.
Jin did not answer the phone when Ms. Cheng later tried to contact her.
Ms. Cheng and her relative then visited the appeals office of the intermediate court. A worker there said non-lawyer defenders only needed to show a power of attorney and a copy of their ID. He was surprised that judge Jin asked for more documents than were required. Ms. Cheng then called Jin but he still did not pick up the phone.
Ms. Cheng learned on May 17, 2024 that Jin ruled to uphold Mr. Liu’s guilty verdict (exact date unknown) without holding an open hearing.
Mr. Cheng proceeded to file complaints against prosecutor Zhang and trial judge Cheng for illegally indicting and sentencing her husband. It is unclear whether she has plans to file a complaint against appeals judge Jin as well.
In her complaints, Ms. Cheng accused both Zhang and Cheng of abusing power and committing dereliction of duty. She requested that both be investigated for their crimes and removed from their positions. Additionally, she requested that her husband be acquitted and released unconditionally. She is also seeking the return of their confiscated personal belongings and demanding state compensation for her husband’s wrongful conviction.
Prosecutor Fails to Investigate Police-supplied Evidence
Ms. Cheng wrote in her complaint that she, a live-in nanny, was seized from her employer’s home moments after her husband was arrested around 7 a.m. on November 16, 2023. She was held in custody and interrogated until 9 p.m. that day. She returned home to see her nine-year-old son terrified and alone. The boy said the police arrested his father early that morning and sent his autistic aunt (Mr. Liu’s sister, who had been living with them since 2017) to a psychiatric hospital.
Ms. Cheng was outraged that her sister-in-law was sent away without the consent of her or her husband, who are her legal guardians. She also said that the police selectively recorded what she said about her husband when she was forced to sign the interrogation record, which was later used against her husband.
During the interrogation, the police also revealed that they confiscated a few poems written by the founder of Falun Gong that were transcribed by Ms. Cheng and Mr. Liu’s son. The boy’s handwritten poems were included as prosecution evidence against his father.
Ms. Cheng accused prosecutor Zhang of failing to investigate the police-supplied evidence and using it as justification to charge her husband with “using a cult to undermine law enforcement.” No law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and it was totally lawful for Mr. Liu to teach his son to transcribe Falun Gong teachings.
Trial Judge Violates Legal Procedures
Trial judge Cheng failed to investigate the prosecution evidence and instead used it to justify her indictment of Mr. Liu. She also barred Ms. Cheng from representing her husband as a non-lawyer defender on the grounds that she had been listed as a prosecution witness. Ms. Cheng applied to have a friend represent her husband, but judge Cheng denied the request again saying the friend had some sort of special status that disqualified him.
Judge Cheng set a court date for 9:30 a.m. on April 19, 2024 but did not notify Ms. Cheng until less than 20 minutes before the start of the trial. There was no way that Ms. Cheng could make it to the courthouse on such short notice.
Judge Cheng issued a guilty verdict on the afternoon of April 19, 2024. She convicted Mr. Liu on the grounds that he had his son transcribe Falun Gong teachings and prevented the youngster from attending school.
Ms. Cheng argued that her husband should never have been charged for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief, much less being sentenced to 3.5 years. As for her son’s schooling issue, she also explained in her complaint that the youngster’s school, Chongxin Elementary School in Xishan District, approved of his absence but later probably took revenge when her husband said no to the order that their son join the Young Pioneers (one of the junior organizations of the CCP).
Ms. Cheng said that her son’s school ordered all students to join the Young Pioneers last year. Knowing how the CCP has been brainwashing young children, Ms. Cheng and her husband said no to the school. Mr. Liu also went to the school several times to explain why. The school was initially fine with that, but after a new principal was installed, he had the boy’s homeroom teacher talk to Mr. Liu. The teacher said the boy was the only continuing student (not counting transfer students) who had not joined the Young Pioneers. About one month prior to Mr. Liu’s arrest, the new school principal and the homeroom teacher summoned him to the school, with a lawyer present. They again demanded to know the reason his son had not joined the Young Pioneers. Mr. Liu told them how he took up Falun Gong and why he did not allow his son to become a part of the CCP.
The school administrators did not threaten him with any consequences at the meeting but Mr. Liu was arrested one month later. Ms. Cheng suspects that the school reported her husband to the police, who then used their son’s situation against him. She recalled that the police questioned her following her arrest as to why her son did not join the Young Pioneers. They also ordered her to write a statement promising to not let her son practice Falun Gong before he turned 18.
Ms. Cheng also detailed in her complaints how her husband took up Falun Gong and became a much better person.
From a Falun Gong-Hater to a Falun Gong Practitioner
Mr. Liu used to hold deep misunderstandings about Falun Gong due to the communist regime’s hate propaganda. Once he smeared Falun Gong at a party in 2002, and another party-goer, who was a prison guard, stopped him saying, “Young man, do not rush to judge Falun Gong yet before you get a chance to learn what practitioners are like.”
Mr. Liu was stunned that a prison guard, who worked for the communist regime, would defend Falun Gong. He thus wished to know more about the practice. In early 2010, he came across someone who was fired as a teacher for refusing to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. He admired this friend for upholding his faith and had many conversations with him.
Mr. Liu has always been spiritual but still had many questions even after he biked to Tibet to seek answers to the meaning of life. The conversations with the friend, however, opened a new door for him. He gradually realized Falun Gong had all the answers he was seeking and he formally took up the practice after an incident that happened in October 2010. He, his wife, and four relatives were returning to Kunming from an out-of-town trip. As the driver, he felt a bit scared driving on the winding mountainous roads on a foggy day. He then remembered to recite “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” as the Falun Gong friend told him before.
As Mr. Liu was driving slowly, he suddenly heard a voice telling him, “Stop! Do not drive any further!” He immediately stepped on the brakes. His wife happened to wake up from a nap at the time and got out of the car to see if there was a rest area nearby. She screamed after noticing the front wheels of the car were already off the road, with a cliff right below. Their four relatives woke up from their naps and everyone was so scared but also relieved at the same time.
Mr. Liu had no doubt that Falun Gong saved their lives and decided to take up the practice afterwards. He became a much better person according to what his wife wrote in her complaints against prosecutor Zhang and judge Cheng.
A Calm Husband and a Patient Father
Mr. Liu used to be an extreme person and had a chip on his shoulder. He was combative and sought revenge for whatever slight he perceived had been done to him. After reading Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Gong, he became much calmer and tolerant. He no longer fought with his wife and the couple enjoyed a happy marriage.
After the couple had their son around 2014, Mr. Liu proved he was a patient father from the very beginning. He never lost his temper with the boy. He also taught his son how to be a good person and homeschooled him during the kindergarten year. When the boy enrolled in grade one, he stood out among his peers as a kind and bright student.
Mr. Liu also taught him how to transcribe poems written by the founder of Falun Gong. The boy was able to transcribe two poems in traditional Chinese characters every day and memorize them. He was also healthy, kind, and bright thanks to the teachings of Falun Gong. Even the police who raided the couple’s home on November 16, 2023 commented that the boy’s handwriting was good.
Mr. Liu’s son was very advanced compared to kids his age. He soon felt bored at school because the materials were too easy for him. He began finding various excuses to not get up in the morning to go to school. Typical parents may reprimand their children, but Mr. Liu talked to his son patiently and tried to understand why the youngster did not want to go to school. Upon finding out the true reason, Mr. Liu took his son out of school from time to time to homeschool him [as the school district did not have gifted classes]. The school did not object as the boy scored at the top of his class at every final test. They, however, began to target Mr. Liu when he did not allow his son to join the Young Pioneers.
A Caring Brother
Mr. Liu’s mother, her three brothers and two sisters all had some mental illnesses. His sister Mei (alias), 53, later also developed a mental disorder on top of being diagnosed with autism. Mr. Liu took over caring for her after their mother passed away in 2017.
Ms. Cheng wrote in her complaints that, had it not been for Falun Gong, she and Mr. Liu would not have had the heart or patience to take care of Mei.
Mei once set something on fire in a shared courtyard, scaring their neighbors. Another time, she poured a lot of water on the floor and resulted in the downstairs neighbor complaining about water leaking from their ceiling. Mei never knew to flush the toilet after each use. She also poured cold water on her bed whenever she felt hot and tossed the peels and pits on the floor after she finished eating fruit. Ms. Cheng bathed her every day and Mr. Liu washed her dirty laundry.
Mr. Liu later quit his jobs as a mail carrier and a ride-share driver to care for his sister and son full-time. He did such a good job that Ms. Cheng felt comfortable enough to work as a live-in nanny. She unfortunately lost her job after her husband’s arrest. She still has been unable to get her sister-in-law out of the psychiatric hospital as the attending physician claimed that the same three departments that sent her sister-in-law in, including the Jinbi Police Station, the residential committee, and an unknown government agency, must all sign paperwork for hospital discharge.
Related Report:
Yunnan Man Sentenced to Prison, Wife Interrogated and Autistic Sister Taken to Psychiatric Hospital
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