(Minghui.org) The appeal filed by a Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province resident against a three-year sentence for practicing Falun Gong was rejected in February 2022.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Wang Zhiyan, 55, was reported by a delivery worker on March 1, 2020 for giving him a Falun Gong pamphlet. She was arrested by officers from the Miaoqian Police Station, and her home was ransacked. Her husband, Mr. Gao Xiubing, who also practices Falun Gong, was arrested with her and taken to the police station.

Both were given 15 days of administrative detention. Although the police didn’t enforce the detention due to the pandemic, they frequently came back to harass them.

For two consecutive days on January 26 and 27, 2021, officers from Gulou Police Station came to harass the couple again.

As soon as Ms. Wang came home on the evening of May 13, 2021 from visiting her mother, she was arrested by officers waiting outside of her apartment. Her Falun Gong books, several flash drives, and some cash were confiscated. It was reported that because she talked to a community director a few days prior about Falun Gong, that director had reported her, resulting in her arrest.

Mr. Gao hired a lawyer named Zeng Wu to represent Ms. Wang on May 20, 2021. On May 28, Mr. Gao went to the local social security bureau to claim Ms. Wang’s salary for the month, so that he could pay the lawyer’s legal fees. The receptionist instructed Mr. Gao to wait for their director. After waiting for an hour, instead of meeting with the director, Mr. Gao saw Zhang Xiaopeng from the Taiyuan City 610 Office show up. Zhang warned Mr. Gao, “If you hire a lawyer, we have all kinds of ways to deal with the lawyer and your family.”

A week later on June 4, Zhang brought six community officials and agents from the 610 Office to Mr. Gao’s home and harassed him and his mother.

Meanwhile, Ms. Wang’s lawyer was repeatedly denied visitation to her at the detention center. Despite objection from both the lawyer and Ms. Wang, the Wanbolin District Court held a virtual hearing of Ms. Wang’s case, instead of an in-person session, on October 20, before sentencing her to a three-year prison term with a 5,000 yuan fine on November 22.

In order to block Mr. Gao’s effort to rescue Ms. Wang, the police constantly harassed him and made several attempts to take him to the local brainwashing center about ten days prior to the hearing in October. The police later stayed outside of his home and blocked him from leaving, or others from entering, when they failed to take him to the brainwashing center.

The police came to harass Mr. Gao again around December 10, upon hearing that he was preparing to appeal the sentence for Ms. Wang. He refused to open the door for the officers.

Mr. Gao learned in early February 2022 that judge Zhang Zhigang of the Taiyuan City Intermediate Court ruled to uphold Ms. Wang’s original verdict.

Ms. Wang is not the only one in her family targeted for practicing Falun Gong. Her younger brother, Mr. Wang Zhigang, also a practitioner, was twice given forced labor for a total of four years, and later sentenced to three years. While in prison, he was abused to the point where he became blind in his left eye and had very poor vision in his right eye. Ms. Wang took good care of him, their bedridden mother, and her ailing mother-in-law. Her latest detention left her loved ones struggle to fend for themselves.

Perpetrators responsible for Ms. Wang’s sentencing:
Wu Jun (吴军), presiding judge of Wanbolin District Court
Zou Ying (邹颖), judge of Wanbolin District CourtLiu Jinping (刘晋萍), judge of Wanbolin District CourtBai Haosen (白浩森), court clerkShi Yuan (史媛), prosecutor of Wanbolin District ProcuratorateZhang Zhigang (张志刚), judge of Taiyuan City Intermediate Court

Related report:

Husband Under House Arrest After Hiring Lawyer to Defend His Wife for Refusing to Give Up Her Faith