(Minghui.org) Today's news from China includes incidents of persecution that took place in 19 cities or counties in 12 provinces. According to this report, 16 Falun Gong practitioners were subjected to mistreatment during their detention, and at least 36 were illegally arrested.
Six practitioners were tried in October 2017 at the Taocheng District Court after being held in custody for over two years.
Ms. Dong Huaxin was sentenced to a nine-year prison term.
Ms. Zhao Xiaomei, Mr. Pang Litao, Mr. Mao Yaning, Mr. Wang Yongchang, and Mr. Liu Qianli were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 months to six and a half years.
Participants in the persecution of the six practitioners:Hengshui City Intermediate Court: +86-318-2188971, +86-318-2188245Xia Guozheng (夏国征), deputy president: +86-13171718888Li Guangfeng (李广峰), deputy president: +86-318-2188006, +86-18632888388Wu Fengyan (吴凤岩), head of the Domestic Security Division: +86-318-7928182, +86-18531802599
The Erdao District Court tried two practitioners on November 8, 2017, without notifying their families and lawyers.
Ms. Pei Shumei was sentenced to a two-year prison term and fined 5,000 yuan. Mr. Liu Zhikuan, 76, was sentenced to a one-and-a-half-year prison term and fined 5,000 yuan.
Participants in the persecution of Ms. Pei and Mr. Liu:Zhao Junfeng (赵俊峰), presiding judge: +86-13596088838, +86-431-88559449, +86-431-84641553, +86-431-84627175Filing department: +86-431-84636551No. 1 Civil Division: +86-431-84636112
Ms. Meng Xiuzhi, 79, was arrested by officers from the Taihaolu Police Station on August 30, 2017.
Ms. Wang Aizhen was arrested by officers from the Guhe Police Station on the morning of November 9, 2017.
Ms. Gao Shumin, Mr. Yin Jiehan, Ms. Yang Guizhi, Ms. Wang Juzuo, Ms. Wang Julin, and other practitioners from Gaojia Village, Zhuqiao Town, were arrested by officers from the Laizhou City Police Department and the Zhuqiao Police Department on the morning of November 6, 2017.
The practitioners' homes were ransacked.
Ms. Wang Yuhong was sentenced to a five-year prison term on November 8, 2017.
Participant in the persecution of Mr. Wang:Xiong Jie (熊杰), judge at Jinzhou City Intermediate Court: +86-18941600169, +86-416-2526150
Mr. Li Wei and his wife Ms. Cao Wenying were each sentenced to three years in prison.
Ms. Zhao Yanfeng was taken to the Shaanxi Province Women's Prison.
Mr. Lu Xinyang was arrested at home by over ten officers from the Dongfenglu Police Station in the Weicheng District on November 9, 2017. The officers confiscated his computer and printer.
Ms. Sheng Xiuhuan was sentenced to a three-year prison term on November 8, 2017.
Participants in the persecution of Ms. Sheng:Dai Chengchun (戴成春), president of Aohan Banner Court: +86-15947562210, +86-476-4321918Sun Dongfeng (孙东风), deputy president: +86-13947672811, +86-476-4321931Wang Huize (王慧泽), procurator-general, Aohan Banner Procuratorate: +86-13304765840, +86-476-4322098
Ms. Dang Changping, in her 60s, from Zhangdian Town, was arrested by officers from the Zhangdian Police Station on November 6, 2017, for distributing Falun Gong informational materials.
Ms. Dang was held in the Tanghe County Detention Center, and was able to return home on the evening of November 9, 2017.
Participant in the persecution of Ms. Dang:Zhangdian Town Police Station: +86-377-68855220
Mr. Duan Shengyuan and Ms. Li Zhixiang were followed and arrested by officers from the Domestic Security Division on the morning of November 7, 2017, when they were seen talking to people about Falun Gong at Longma Square in Chengbei Town.
The officers ransacked Mr. Duan's home and confiscated the book Zhuan Falun and Falun Dafa informational materials. He was released that evening.
Ms. Li was taken to a detention center.
Mr. Fan Fangneng from Bajiaoqing Village was arrested by officers from the Binggu Police Station on November 6, 2017. Mr. Wang Fuguo was arrested on the same day.
Both practitioners were taken to the Yanbian Detention Center in Panzhihua City, by officers from the Hongge Police Station in Panzhihua.
Three practitioners from Fushun City, Liaoning Province were taken to prison in Jiangsu Province for distributing Falun Gong materials.
Ms. Zhang Yuxia, Mr. Zhao Guangyu and his wife Ms. Han Yufeng were arrested on August 2, 2016, in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. They were visiting Ms. Zhang's daughter, who had just had a baby. Ms. Zhang's daughter is Mr. Zhao and Ms. Han's daughter-in-law.
The three practitioners were tried on May 16, 2017, and sentenced months later. Ms. Zhang and Mr. Zhao were each given a three-year-and-three-month prison term, and Ms. Han was sentenced to a three-year prison term. Each of them was fined 30,000 yuan.
Ms. Zhang and Ms. Han were taken to the Nanjing City Women's Prison, and were denied family visits. The guards claimed that only family members who do not practice Falun Gong may visit them, provided they received approval from their local authorities.
Mr. Zhao was taken to the Suzhou Prison. His family were allowed to visit him, and noticed that he appeared much older since his arrest.
Several Falun Gong practitioners in Maoming City have been arrested or harassed by the police in recent months. Five practitioners remain in the Maoming First Detention Center.
Ms. Cao Junyi, 56, was arrested on June 6, 2017. Her case is with the Maonan District Court, and is overseen by judge Zhou Wenhui (+86-06682271109).
Ms. Chen Le'an, 74, was arrested on August 27. She was recently issued with a formal arrest warrant.
Ms. Zhou Qixue, 58, was arrested on September 19. Her husband was told to collect her cell phone and house key from the local police station the following day.
Mr. Liang Yuansheng, a 61-year-old veteran, was also arrested on September 19. His lawyer is preparing to defend him in court.
Mr. Zhu Shixiong, in his 50's, was arrested on September 20. He was issued with an arrest warrant nine days later. He also hired a lawyer to defend his constitutional right to freedom of belief.
The following practitioners have been harassed by the police:
Ms. Li Jianying was harassed nine times by the police. The police have visited Ms. Lin Yanmei's home many times. Ms. Tao Yonghong and her mother had to open the door to police at least once every day from October 13 to 23.
Ms. Sun Liping, from Hangzhou City, was arrested on August 16, 2016, and sentenced to five years in prison on November 3, 2017.
Ms. Sun appeared in court on December 1 and December 26, 2016. Her defense lawyer, whose law firm is located in Jinan City, Shandong Province, told her family that the authorities in Hangzhou contacted the Judicial Bureau in Jinan to try to get him to drop the case.
The lawyer refused, and judge Yang Chengfu sentenced Ms. Sun nearly a year later.
Ms. Sun used to work as part of the medical staff in Qiaosi Prison. She had already been imprisoned twice for refusing to renounce her belief in Falun Gong.
Ms. Sun Xianyan remains in detention following two court appearances for refusing to renounce her belief in Falun Gong. She was arrested in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province on October 28, 2016, and taken back to her hometown in Yakeshi City on November 13, 2016.
Ms. Sun tells of her experience:
During the interrogation an officer from the local Procuratorate produced a photo of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and alleged that they found the book in my mother's home. I firmly denied these allegations.
Jing Liwen and another person came to interrogate me several days later, so I brought up the unfounded allegations. Ding said that the allegation was wrong, but claimed that they found more than 1,200 phone numbers of other Falun Gong practitioners on my phone, which was evidence to prosecute me. My lawyer argued that there were only a few contacts stored on my phone.
I was taken to a room in the basement of the local courthouse. My family wasn't informed of the court hearing, nor I was told the names of the judge or the prosecutor.
My lawyer noted that there was no signature on the “evidence” presented by the prosecution, which is required by law.
I was previously arrested on August 12, 2016, during check-in at the Harbin Train Station. Two plainclothes officers took me to another train station, where another group of police took me to a local detention center.
I refused to wear the detention center uniform, so guard Liu Xiaoguang put me in solitary confinement for a day.
They tried to get me to wear the uniform again on August 21, 2016, but I refused. I was taken to solitary confinement later that evening, as a punishment for speaking too loudly to another inmate. The guards kept me handcuffed and shackled during the two days of solitary confinement.
Mr. Sun Jinghe was arrested on January 25, 2017, after being reported to the authorities for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan on September 28.
Mr. Sun has filed an appeal against his sentence.
Judge He Fu at the Changchun City Intermediate Court has been assigned to handle Mr. Sun's appeal case.
Ms. Wang Haiyan was arrested on October 8, 2017, for refusing to renounce her belief in Falun Gong. Her husband Mr. Wang Zengwu was arrested days later. Ms. Wang was forced to sit on a tiger bench for a full day and wasn't removed from the bench until she told police of her husband's whereabouts. She was released on October 24. Mr. Wang is being held in the Shuangliao City Detention Center.
Ms. Bie Lihua was arrested on October 9, for refusing to renounce her belief in Falun Gong. Her husband Mr. Chu Guiyan is also wanted by the police. Ms. Bie was tortured under interrogation and is being held in a detention center in Siping City.
Mr. Lu Jinlong from the Baoshan District in Shanghai was arrested on June 17, 2017, after being reported to the authorities for distributing Falun Gong informational materials.
The police forward Mr. Lu's case to the Procuratorate on September 19, but it was returned in late September, citing insufficient evidence. The police filed the case again, and the Procuratorate passed the case to the local court on November 3.
Mr. Lu was previously imprisoned for three years because of his faith, and was twice taken to a forced labor camp for a total of four years.
Ms. Zhang Guihuan, 58, was sentenced to two years in prison for filing a criminal complaint against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhang submitted her complaint in June 2015 and was arrested on July 14, 2016. She was released on bail three days later, but the police took her back into custody on July 28, 2017.
She appeared in court on September 8, and her family members were barred from entering the courthouse. They protested to judge Cui Baomin, but he ignored them.
More than 30 family members went to file a complaint against Cui, but section chief Ding from the Procuratorate refused to accept their complaint, and referred them back to the local court. A person with the surname Li took the complaint, but refused to give his phone number for future correspondence.
Ms. Zhang's family learned that she was imprisoned on November 6.
Mr. Ding Yufang was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison on November 7, 2017, for refusing to renounce his belief in Falun Gong. His family has appealed on his behalf.
Mr. Ding, his wife Ms. Liu Fengying, and their son Mr. Ding Mingyu, were arrested at their home on April 18, 2017. His wife and son were released a day later, but were taken back into custody on April 23 when they went back to request Mr. Ding's release. They were detained for 15 days.
Tienan Police sent Mr. Ding Yufang's case files to the Hongshan District Procuratorate, but it was returned on July 11, citing insufficient evidence. Police chief Yan Xiaolin resubmitted the case on August 7, and the Procuratorate finally filed an indictment against Mr. Ding.
Mr. Ding was tried on October 27 and convicted by judge Zhang Li on November 7. Mr. Ding's whereabouts are unknown.