(Minghui.org) An 86-year-old resident of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, was admitted to the Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison in June 2024 to serve a 1.5-year prison term for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
This was not the first time that Ms. Wang Songxia, a retired physician of the Baoji City Central Hospital, has been targeted for her faith. She was previously sentenced to seven years with seven years probation following an arrest in July 2009.
Details of Latest Persecution
Ms. Wang’s latest prison sentence stemmed from her arrest on May 8, 2022 outside the east gate of the Baoji City Central Hospital. She and another local resident, Mr. Zhang Jinman, around 69, were exchanging Falun Gong informational materials there, when the police suddenly showed up and seized them.
The arresting officers were from the Jiangtan Road Police Station. According to an insider, the police had tapped the two Falun Gong practitioners’ phones and learned about their plan to meet outside the hospital.
Ms. Wang was released on bail the next day but faced constant harassment at home by officers from the Jiangtan Road Police Station. Mr. Zhang was held at the Qianyang County Detention Center for 15 days before being released on bail.
On September 13, 2022, the police station delivered to both Ms. Wang and Mr. Zhang a “Notice of Transferring Case Files for Prosecution” and said that their cases had been submitted to the Weibin District Procuratorate. The hospital is located in the Weibin District.
Someone from the Jintai District Procuratorate showed up at Ms. Wang’s home in May 2023 to ask questions and inform her that the Jintai District has been designated to handle all Falun Gong cases in the four districts of Baoji City, and that Qishan County was to handle all cases in the eight counties under the administration of Baoji. He said that the Jintai District Procuratorate would now handle her case and Mr. Zhang’s.
The Jintai District Procuratorate indicted Ms. Wang and Mr. Zhang. On July 3, 2023, Ms. Wang received a copy of the indictment, which was signed by prosecutor Wang Lei and assistant prosecutor Zhong Pei. Ms. Wang had actually talked to prosecutor Wang before and urged the latter not to indict her and Mr. Zhang. Prosecutor Wang nonetheless filed charges against them.
The indictment noted that her court date was set for July 13, 2023, but the details of her trial are unclear. Her loved ones only learned in July 2024 that she had been sentenced to 1.5 years with a 5,000-yuan fine. The case status of Mr. Zhang remains to be investigated.
Related Report:
Two Shaanxi Residents Indicted for Their Faith in Falun Gong
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