(Minghui.org) The Mudanjiang City Intermediate Court in Heilongjiang Province ruled on June 3, 2026, to uphold the wrongful conviction of four Falun Gong practitioners for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of belief.
The four practitioners, all residents of Dongning City (which is under the administration of Mudanjiang), were arrested on July 18, 2025, and convicted on February 4, 2026. Ms. Su Hong was sentenced to nine years and fined 5,000 yuan. Mr. Shen Jinxiang, 66, and Ms. Jia Yanfeng each received five years and a 2,000-yuan fine. Mr. Yang Kui was given four and a half years with a 2,000-yuan fine.
Ms. Jia and Ms. Su have been admitted to the strict management team of the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison after losing their appeal. Their families are applying to visit them in prison.
Minghui.org previously reported on the violation of legal procedures on the part of the law enforcement, the trial court, and the intermediate court. This report provides some additional information in this regard.
When questioned about what legal basis there was to arrest and prosecute the four practitioners, captain Wei Xin of the Dongning City Domestic Security Office said during the trial in December 2025, “We don’t have any written laws to follow. We just knew to do what higher-ups instructed us to do!”
Prosecutor Fan Jiayao of the Hailin District Procuratorate refused to respond to the practitioners’ families’ request to know what legal basis she had to indict their loved ones. During the trial, she refused to present prosecution evidence and pointed her finger at the defense lawyers, yelling, “Shut up!”
Fan alleged that Falun Gong had been banned since 1999, but failed to produce any legal basis. As a matter of fact, the People’s Congress, China’s law-making body, has never enacted any law to criminalize Falun Gong.
When questioned about what law enforcement the defendants had allegedly undermined, Fan blurted out, “They sabotaged the entire law enforcement!” She, however, was unable to articulate what “the entire law enforcement” was about.
Judge Yan Junlong of the Hailin District Court claimed that the police and the prosecutor’s failure to produce a legal basis “would not affect the factual evidence against the defendants.”
When the practitioners testified in their own defense, they were often interrupted by Yan, who accused them of “talking nonsense and polluting his ears.”
An appeals hearing was held at the Mudanjiang City Intermediate Court on May 19-20, 2026. Prosecutor Xie Wenxue did not present any prosecution evidence. One of the judges, Zhao Hengdong, said no Falun Gong-related items were to be presented in court.
One of the defense lawyers argued that the four practitioners should have been tried separately. Zhao concurred but still ruled to uphold the original verdicts derived from a joint trial of the practitioners.
Related Reports:
Intermediate Court Hears Four Falun Gong Practitioners' Appeal Case, Decisions Still Pending
Dongning City, Heilongjiang Province: Four Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to 4.5 to 9 Years
Dongning City, Heilongjiang Province: Four Residents Tried for Practicing Falun Gong
Several Teachers Persecuted in Dongning County, Heilongjiang Province
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