(Minghui.org) Mr. Hu Zihua, 59, from Chenxi County, Hunan Province, was recently sentenced to two years in Guangdong Province for practicing Falun Gong. He is now appealing the verdict.
Mr. Hu was found to have a tumor growing in his abdomen before his court hearing on December 10, 2024. It’s not clear whether the growth was cancerous. His family requested that he be released on bail, but their request was rejected. He was brought back to the local detention center after the hearing. The presiding judge said that no decision or sentence was announced, as everything regarding Falun Gong had to be determined by the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extra-legal agency tasked with overseeing the persecution.
Mr. Hu was arrested at his son’s home in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, on December 24, 2023, while he stayed there to help care for his grandchild. His son’s home was also ransacked.
The police held Mr. Hu at the Zhuhai City Second Detention Center and later submitted his case to the Xiangzhou District Procuratorate. The prosecutor returned his case twice, citing insufficient evidence. The prosecutor indicted Mr. Hu around August 2024, after the police submitted his case for the third time. Judge Hu Xiaoqing (no relation) of the Xiangzhou District Court scheduled a hearing for October 15, 2024, but later postponed it to December 10, 2024.
When they made their defense statements during the hearing, both Mr. Hu and his lawyer were frequently interrupted by the judge. The judge also ordered the bailiff to seize Mr. Hu’s prepared defense statement so he couldn’t finish presenting it.
Mr. Hu was taken back to the detention center after the hearing. His family was notified by the court in early January 2025 that he was sentenced to two years and fined 10,000-yuan.
Related Reports:
After Previously Enduring 3.5 Years of Torture in Prison, Hunan Man Again Faces Trial for His Faith
Straitjacket Commonly Used in Hunan Women’s Prison to Torture Falun Gong Practitioners
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