(Minghui.org) A Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, resident who was out on bail was forced to undergo a physical examination on June 13, 2024, to see if she was well enough to be taken back into custody to serve out the last two months of her seven-month term.
Ms. Shi Yujie was arrested on April 20, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She went on a hunger strike for about two weeks in May 2023 and was brutally force-fed. She had a stomachache afterwards and became seriously ill. Instead of immediately releasing her on bail, the presiding judge made her stand trial on September 5 and had an ambulance and two doctors on standby during the hearing. She was not released on bail until September 22 and was sentenced to seven months with a 2,000-yuan fine at the end of November 2023.
Ms. Shi’s condition has not improved since she was released on bail. She is still unable to eat normally and has difficulty walking. She relies on her family to take care of her daily needs. The authorities, however, are now attempting to put her back in jail. It is unclear, though, what the results of the mandatory physical exam were on June 13, 2024, or if Ms. Shi was allowed to go home.
Arrests
Ms. Shi was arrested together with two other local Falun Gong practitioners, including Ms. Dong Haiyan and Ms. Chen Shuling, on April 20, 2023, while on their way to a shopping mall. The arresting officers from the Wuyi Road Police Station submitted their joint case to the Qiaodong District Procuratorate on May 18. The procuratorate later returned the case citing insufficient evidence, but the police resubmitted the case to the same procuratorate around July 5.
The three women’s families went to the Qiaodong District Procuratorate on July 10 to ask about their case status and prosecutor Li Shaolong said that the case was to be submitted to the Zhajiangkou City Procuratorate, which would then assign a district-level procuratorate to handle it. The families returned the next afternoon and were told the same thing.
On July 14, the families learned that the case was forwarded to the Qiaoxi District Procuratorate. Prosecutor Dong Qi was assigned to handle the case.
The families urged the police and the two district procuratorates many times to drop the case against their loved ones, but to no avail.
Force-fed in Detention
Ms. Shi’s lawyer visited her at the local detention center on September 4, 2023. He was shocked that it took her one hour to walk the short distance from her detention cell to the meeting room. After the visit, he immediately approached the detention center management to report her condition but the staff said she only had herself to blame. They complained that she went on a hunger strike for about two weeks in May 2023 but refused to receive IV drips “for her own good.” They “had no way but” force-feed her twice. She had a stomachache afterwards and was unable to keep food down. She was emaciated and weak because she could only tolerate a liquid diet.
Because the detention center refused to accept responsibility for her condition, the lawyer called judge Wang Cuifang of the Qiaoxi District Court and strongly requested that his client be released on bail. Wang did not approve it.
Made to Stand Trial Despite Serious Condition
Ms. Shi and the other two practitioners stood trial in the Qiaoxi District Court on September 5, 2023. They all appeared to be weak and emaciated, with Ms. Shi being especially weak. Her face was pale and she kept her eyes closed during most of the session. She struggled to open her eyes when she answered judge Wang’s questions.
Wang told Ms. Shi’s family that an ambulance and two doctors were on standby in case Ms. Shi required medical attention during the trial.
Not Released on Bail Until 22 Days After Court Hearing
Ms. Shi’s husband called judge Wang the day after the court hearing to request his wife be released on bail. Wang replied that she told the detention center that she was ready to approve it as soon as they submitted a request for Ms. Shi to be released on bail for medical treatments.
Ms. Shi’s husband went to the detention center the next day to relay the judge’s words and requested that they file a bail request with the court as soon as possible. The detention center, however, said that their only job was to detain inmates, not to file bail requests to have people released. They referred Ms. Shi’s husband back to the court.
After being given the runaround, it took Ms. Shi’s husband until September 27 to finally get her released on bail that day. Judge Wang also notified Ms. Chen and Ms. Dong’s families on November 17, 2023 to report to her in three days to process their loved ones’ bail release paperwork.
Sentenced to Prison
The three women’s families were notified on November 30, 2023 to go to the court the next day to pick up their verdicts. Ms. Shi, Ms. Chen, and Ms. Dong were each sentenced to seven months and fined 2,000 yuan.
The court had Ms. Shi undergo a mandatory physical examination at the Zhangjiakou City Hospital on June 13, 2024. She still had two months left on her term, and the court attempted to take her back into custody to finish her prison sentence. It’s unclear what happened after the health checkup.
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Hebei Woman Faces Prison Sentence for Her Faith, Mother-in-law Dies in Distress
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