(Minghui.org) Four residents of Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, were convicted on April 17, 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Both the prosecutor and the judge in charge of the case admitted that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the four practitioners for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of belief. They were still wrongfully convicted.
Ms. Liu Zaiyun and Mr. Hou Shuyuan were each sentenced to three years and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Su Chunfeng and Ms. Hu Xiumei were each given two and a half years and fined 5,000 yuan. They all filed appeals with the Cangzhou City Intermediate Court themselves, or through their lawyers at the time of this report.
Arrests and Indictment
All four practitioners were arrested on January 11, 2022. Ms. Liu, Mr. Hou, and Ms. Hu are still detained. Ms. Su was released on bail three days after her arrest due to health reasons. She was taken back into custody on July 12, 2023. She is held at the Cangzhou City Detention Center with the other three practitioners.
Gao Fusong of the Xinhua District Domestic Security Division, who arrested the practitioners, submitted their joint case to the Xinhua District Procuratorate in early April 2022. The case was transferred to the Yunhe District Procuratorate on May 14, 2022. Prosecutor Kong Lingxia at the Yunhe District Procuratorate returned the case twice to the police citing insufficient evidence. In their attempt to fabricate evidence against the four practitioners, the police installed surveillance devices on their motorcycles and harassed their family members and co-workers.
The practitioners’ lawyers wrote to various government agencies on July 13 and 14, 2022, urging the authorities to release them. They argued that the practitioners’ spiritual belief is protected by China’s constitution and that the practitioners did not harm anyone or society by distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Prosecutor Kong still indicted the four practitioners on October 26, 2022, after the police resubmitted the case.
Trial
The Yunhe District Court heard the case on December 21, 2023 but barred the practitioners’ families from attending the trial. The authorities also arranged a large police force to guard the courthouse during the hearing. Dozens of police cruisers were seen parked along the 1.2-mile long road near the court. Police also patrolled outside, videotaped the cars that drove by and questioned pedestrians.
All four practitioners’ lawyers, including Ms. Su’s court-appointed lawyer, entered not guilty plea for them. The practitioners also maintained that they didn’t violate any law by practicing their faith. Prosecutors Kong, Li Hejia and Li Chuanhe strongly defended their decision to charge the practitioners, but they also admitted that the police-provided evidence was weak. The presiding judge, Liu Zhongcheng, frequently interrupted the practitioners and their lawyers as they tried to clarify the facts about Falun Gong. Judge Fu Rao was also present at the hearing.
Judge Liu later admitted to the defense lawyers in private that there was indeed no legal basis to prosecute the four practitioners. Nonetheless he still followed high-ups’ order and convicted the practitioners on April 17, 2024.
Ms. Su Seriously Ill After Being Taken Into Custody
Before taking Ms. Su back into custody on July 12, 2023, the police had her undergo three medical examinations at two different hospitals earlier that day. The first two examinations indicated that she had a high blood pressure reading of 220/130 mmHg (the normal range is 120/80 mmHg), bilateral carotid arteries in the neck, sclerosis with plaque formation in the left carotid artery, a small amount of tricuspid valve and aortic valve regurgitation, and decreased diastolic function of the left ventricle.
The Cangzhou City Detention Center refused to accept Ms. Su after reading her exam results. The police then returned her to the hospital to have a cranial CT scan, knowing that her brain was fine. They then got the detention center to admit her because her CT scan results were totally normal.
After more than nine months of detention, Ms. Su’s health has further declined. According to an insider, she is now seriously ill. She requires the use of a urinary catheter and struggles to take care of herself. The detention center never notified her family of her condition.
Related Reports:
Copyright © 2024 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
