(Minghui.org) Ms. Cheng Laihua from Yingtan City, Jiangxi Province, was sentenced to three years for her faith, Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.
Ms. Cheng Laihua, in her 60s, was arrested on July 8, 2023 after she was reported for distributing flash drives containing Falun Gong information at a local railway station. She was taken to the Jiaotong Police Station in Yuehu District, Yingtan City, before she was transferred to the Yingtan City Detention Center.
The arresting officers also raided her home and submitted her case to the Guixi City Procuratorate less then two weeks later. The Guixi City Court then sentenced her to three years. Guixi City is under the administration of Yingtan City. The details of her indictment, trial, and sentencing are being investigated.
Ms. Cheng is on a hunger strike at the detention center at the time of this report.
Past Persecution
This is the second time that Ms. Cheng was sentenced for her faith. She was previously given four years in prison in 2014.
Ms. Cheng was arrested on April 5, 2014, while distributing Falun Gong materials in Yujiang County. The arresting officers were from the Yingtan City Domestic Security Office, including Huang Zhihua. They took her to the Zhongtong Town Police Station in Yujiang County.
The Yujiang County Court tried Ms. Cheng on August 6, 2014. Before they were allowed to enter the courtroom, each person was photographed and searched. The authorities deployed twenty-four uniformed police and multiple plainclothes officers to carry out this “security detail.”
Inside the courtroom, police officers occupied the entire first row, while plainclothes officers sat in the last row, surrounding Ms. Cheng’s ten family members and the other people who were allowed in. During the trial, which lasted over two hours, officials roamed the courtroom photographing the spectators. They disturbed the proceedings with their aggressive behavior that was clearly meant to intimidate.
The prosecutors charged Ms. Cheng with “disrupting social order” and “sabotaging law enforcement.” Ms. Cheng defended herself. She told the court that practicing Falun Gong improved her health and showed her how to be a good person. She said that it was not a crime to live by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and that it was not a crime to tell people about Falun Gong.
She mentioned the fact that the CCP has committed crimes against Falun Gong practitioners, who merely want to be good people, and that the CCP has corrupted society's morals. She told the court that good will prevail over evil and that justice will win.
The lawyer retained by Ms. Cheng’s family also defended her. He stated that Ms. Cheng worked diligently as a live-in nanny and was well known for her integrity and good character. Her distributing Falun Gong materials did not disturb anyone, and it did not disrupt traffic. The charge “disrupting social order” was groundless.
He said the Chinese constitution protects people’s freedom of belief and therefore Ms. Cheng has the right to practice Falun Gong; distributing Falun Gong materials is not against the law. The charge “sabotaging law enforcement” was not applicable either. Her lawyer also asked the court to present and play the evidence: The Falun Gong DVD that Ms. Cheng distributed.
The request was denied, and the court hearing was adjourned. Around August 30, 2014, Ms. Cheng’s family and friends went to the courthouse to ask about her case. They were told that the final verdict was decided by the city government and that the judges just had to follow orders.
In early September 2014, Ms. Cheng was sentenced to four years in prison. She insisted on her innocence and appealed the sentence to the Yingtan City Intermediate Court, which took just three weeks to uphold the conviction and sentencing.
On October 5, 2014 Ms. Cheng went on a hunger strike to protest. She was taken to Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison five days later. Her family was denied visitation. The political instructor of the fifth ward, Wu, claimed, “No family visits for those who refuse to ‘transform.’ The days she is on a hunger strike won’t count towards her prison term.”
Related Reports:
Lower Court Gives Woman Predetermined Sentence; Higher Court Upholds Original Verdict
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