(Minghui.org) Seven Kunming City, Yunnan Province residents were tried by two local courts for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Lin Haiying, her mother Ms. Li Ruihua, Ms. Xiao Yuxia, Ms. Wang Meiling, and Mr. Qiu An were tried by the Wuhua District Court. The other two practitioners, Ms. Kuang Deying and Ms. Bai Haiying, were tried by the Xishan District Court.
The court dates were confirmed to be November 18 and 19, 2020, but it is unclear whether the practitioners were tried over the course of two days or the first group of practitioners appeared in court on one day and the other on another day.
Only two family members of each practitioner were allowed to attend the hearings. More details about their hearings remain to be investigated.
Below are details about the practitioners’ arrests.
Ms. Lin Haiying and Her Mother Ms. Li Ruihua
Ms. Lin Haiying, 54, and her mother, Ms. Li Ruihua, 78, were arrested on May 13, 2019, by officers from Wuhua District Domestic Security Office. They have appeared twice in Wuhua District Court, on October 29 and November 29, 2019, respectively. The latest hearing was their third hearing.
Both women were previously arrested in April 2009 for talking to people about Falun Gong. Ms. Lin was given two years of forced labor.
Ms. Xiao Yuxia
Ms. Xiao Yuxia, 58, was arrested at home on September 6, 2019. The police broke into her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and photo of Falun Gong’s founder. The police also arrested her husband, Mr. Tang Wenxiang, in the same afternoon. But Mr. Tang was later released on bail due to a health condition.
Prior to Ms. Xiao’s latest arrest, she was targeted several times for her faith.
She was arrested on April 4, 2000, for appealing to the Yunnan provincial government in protest of the persecution and was detained 15 days.
She was arrested again on July 23, 2000, for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was given three years of forced labor after being taken back to Kunming.
She was sentenced to five years after her other arrest on February 7, 2012.
Ms. Wang Meiling
Ms. Wang Meiling, a 66-year-old retired accountant in Chuxiong City, visited her family in Kunming during the Dragon Boat Festival in June 2019. She was arrested after being reported by a student for talking to her about Falun Gong. She has been held at the Kunming City Detention Center since.
Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Wang was arrested together with her daughter Ms. Hong Yizhao on January 30, 2000, when they went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They were detained for 56 days after being taken back to Yunnan and then given six months of house arrest.
She was forced to live away from home starting on February 7, 2001, as a result of the police harassment.
On July 16, 2002, she was arrested in Kunming while distributing Falun Gong materials. She was then given three years of forced labor.
Ms. Wang was arrested again on March 10, 2011, and sentenced to three years by the Chuxiongzhou Court.
Mr. Qiu An
Mr. Qiu An, a 48-year-old electronics store owner, was arrested in his store on May 11, 2020. He has been held at the Guandu District Detention Center since.
Mr. Qiu was previously arrested on December 11, 2018, in his store after being reported for giving a customer software to break through internet censorship in China. He was beaten and sprayed with pepper water in the police station. A medical examination concluded that the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of the police had caused broken bones in his pelvis and ribs.
Ms. Kuang Deying
Ms. Kuang Deying, in her 50s, is a native of Qiaojia County. She was arrested in late September 2019 while visiting another Falun Gong practitioner in Kunming City. She has been held at the Kunming City Detention Center since. The latest hearing was her second hearing by the Xishan District Court.
Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Kuang had been arrested multiple times for her faith. She served two labor camp terms and one prison term for a total of more than 9 years.
She was first arrested in February 2000 and detained for a month. In July 2000, she was arrested on her way to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The detention center refused to accept her because she was pregnant.
Ms. Kuang was arrested again on January 6, 2002, for distributing Falun Gong-related materials. The police ransacked her home and gave her two years of forced labor.
Her next arrest was in November 2004 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was given three years of forced labor in May 2005 after being held for seven months at the Qiaojia Detention Center.
Ms. Kuang was arrested one more time on July 16, 2008, and held at the Xiaoshaba Detention Center. She was secretly sentenced to four years in December 2008 by the Qiaojia County Court.
Ms. Bai Haiying
Ms. Bai Haiying, a furniture store employee, was seized by the police at work around 2 p.m. on September 24, 2019. The police claimed they had some questions for her. Next, the police ransacked her home. They claimed that they had a search warrant but didn’t show it to her family. Officers confiscated Ms. Bai’s Falun Gong books and a cellphone.
When Ms. Bai’s family went to the police station to inquire about her case and demand her release the next day, the police refused to provide any information and said she might be held there for 48 hours.
Ms. Bai was put in criminal detention the next afternoon and transferred to Kunming City Detention Center, where she has been held for over a year.
