Woman Imprisoned After Higher Court Concealed Her Appeal from Her Family and Lawyer

(Minghui.org) After Ms. Jin Rong, of Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, was sentenced to six years on December 2, 2021 for her faith in Falun Gong, her family was eager to know whether she intended to appeal the verdict.

Not allowed to visit her, her family kept asking the Baqiao District Court that sentenced her and the Xi’an City Intermediate Court, about whether she would file or have filed an appeal.

He Tao, the clerk for presiding judge Duan Wenwen of the district court, told the family that they would only reveal the information about her appeal to the lawyer who defended her during her trial. But when the family consulted the lawyer, he said he didn’t know about it either.

Both the family and the lawyer then contacted judge Luo Chengxing of the intermediate court, who insisted that he had never received Ms. Jin’s appeal. 

On January 31, Ms. Jin’s family received a call from the Lintong District Detention Center informing them that she had filed an appeal and that she wanted her family to hire a lawyer for her.

Just when the new lawyer hired for her appeals case was on the way to visit Ms. Jin, he received notification that her appeal was rejected and she was scheduled to be taken to the Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison on February 22, 2022. 

Ms. Jin, in her 60s, was arrested on April 21, 2020, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. This is the second time that she has been sentenced to prison. She was previously given four years in September 2014 and her latest arrest came only two years after she was released.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Luo Chengxing (骆成兴), judge of Xi’an City Intermediate Court: [phone]Yu Mengdi (于梦迪), clerk of Xi’an City Intermediate Court: [phone]Duan Wenwen (段文文), judge of Baqiao District Court: [phone]He Tao (贺涛), clerk of Baqiao District Court

Related report:

Once Imprisoned for Four Years, Shaanxi Woman Sentenced to Another Six Years for Her Faith