(Minghui.org) Ms. Tian Xiaoping, a Falun Gong practitioner from Heilongjiang Province, Shuangcheng City, was handed a 14-year prison sentence in 2012 for her belief in Falun Dafa. Ms. Tian is now illegally detained in Heilongjiang Women’s Prison.
When family members visited Ms. Tian on March 14, 2013, they were shocked to see that she could not walk without help or speak clearly. She trembled due to severe spasms. The prison authorities told her family to pay 2000 yuan for a physical exam and to provide her with medication to treat a heart condition. The family insisted on medical parole for Ms. Tian.
Before she was sent to prison, Ms. Tian suffered a heart attack caused by intensive police interrogation in Heilongjiang No. 2 Detention Center. Torture left her with a severely injured arm. Despite her poor health, the Women’s Prison admitted her.
Arrested by Chinese Communist Party Agents
Ms. Tian Xiaoping, 51, was arrested on November 13, 2011, and received a 14-year prison sentence in August 2012. The court proceedings were under the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang Province’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office.
The arrest occurred when Ms. Tian joined 40 other practitioners to listen to the wife and daughter of Qin Yueming, who spoke about their difficult legal effort to find justice in the case of Mr. Qin’s death. Mr. Qin, a Falun Gong practitioner, died in police custody after being brutally tortured.
When the meeting concluded, the group was surprised to see over 100 police officers barge into the room. They used tear gas and electric batons to subdue the practitioners. Each practitioner was attacked by at least two officers. Ms. Tian was hit and cut on her forehead. Her shirt was torn to pieces, and her eyes were red and swollen for ten days from the effects of the tear gas.
The practitioners were taken to the Shuangcheng City Police Patrol Unit, where the police interrogated them one by one. After midnight, some practitioners were taken to Harbin No. 2 Detention Center and Shuangcheng Detention Center, while others were taken to Shuangcheng Temporary Detention House.
Ms. Tian is Subjected to Brutal Torture in Detention
While in Harbin No. 2 Detention Center, Ms. Tian Xiaoping was subjected to an extremely painful form of torture.
Police officers Yao Shoujun, Lu Jun and a third man tied her up to a chair with her arms behind her back. They used a high intensity light to burn her face, while Lu Jun kicked her knees. Ms. Tian’s lips were burned so badly that they cracked; her arms turned purple from the assault.
Practitioners Placed on Trial before Judge Who Ignores Due Process
On May 28, 2012 at 9 a.m., the Shuangcheng Court tried six practitioners, including Ms. Tian. The trumped-up charge was “sabotaging law enforcement.” The practitioners denied the charge.
Five defense lawyers presented arguments that the practitioners have the right to freedom of belief and speech, as guaranteed by Chinese law. The judge was left speechless, but eventually countered that freedom had nothing to do with the case.
When two of the lawyers spoke positively about Falun Gong and told the court that their clients had been tortured by police, the judge became furious. He denied the lawyers’ challenge to call the perpetrators to court.
After failing to provide a logical explanation, the desperate judge called in guards to drag the lawyers out of the courtroom. He also confiscated the lawyers’ personal computers.
Finally, the public prosecutor suggested that the court give the six practitioners prison sentences from three to five years. The practitioners protested and filed an appeal.
A second trial took place in August, and the court delivered an astonishing verdict: Ms. Tian and three other practitioners were each given long prison sentences of 14, 13, and 11 years.
Sources said that the heavy sentences were decided in an internal meeting between the Heilongjiang Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office.
