(Minghui.org) Two Jieyang City, Guangdong Province residents stood trial on February 21, 2025 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Ms. Yuan Yinying 74, and Ms. Zheng Zuejun 61, were both previously targeted simply because they practice Falun Gong.
The Jiedong District Court in Jieyang City did not notify their families of the virtual hearing as required by law. Ms. Yuan’s family hired a lawyer to represent her and the lawyer told them about the trial. Becuase Ms. Zheng’s family did not hire a lawyer her family did not know about the hearing. Ms. Yuan and Ms. Zheng are now awaiting verdicts and are held at the Jieyang City Detention Center.
Ms. Yuan’s and Ms. Zheng’s ordeal began in March 2024 when someone in neighboring Chaozhou City (also in Guangdong Province) reported seeing Falun Gong materials. The Chaozhou City police suspected it was done by Falun Gong practitioners in Jieyang City. They requested help from the Guangdong Province 610 Office, which then instructed its subordinate 610 Office in Jieyang City to monitor local practitioners. After a period of surveillance, the latter 610 Office suspected that Ms. Zheng, Ms. Yuan, and Ms. Lin Jieshan distributed the materials in Chaozhou City.
Ms. Zheng’s home was raided on May 9, 2024, by officers from the Chaozhou City Domestic Security Division, the Raoping County Domestic Security Division, the Jieyang City Domestic Security Division and it subordinate Rongcheng District Domestic Security Division, Dongsheng Police Station and Ronghua Police Station.
The police next brought Ms. Zheng to her old home, which she told them had been sold. They didn’t believe her until they saw other people lived there. That night they raided Ms. Lin’s home and took her to the Dongsheng Police Station. Ms. Lin was released hours later, only to be taken back into custody in a few days. The police detained her for 10 days and released her. Ms. Zheng and Ms. Yuan remained detained at the Jieyang City Detention Center.
Ms. Yuan went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on January 1, 2000 and was arrested by several officers from the Rongcheng District Police Department who were stationed in Beijing to catch practitioners from Jieyang. They took her to the Jieyang City’s Liaison Office in Beijing. She was searched and her 800 yuan and her ID were seized. The police still haven’t returned her money or ID.
Ms. Zheng was held in a tiny room with more than ten other practitioners. They were not allowed to sit during the day. They were each given two steamed buns every day and they were only allowed two restroom breaks. The police demanded Ms. Zheng’s husband give them 50,000 yuan in exchange for her release. Her husband only managed to give them a little over 10,000 yuan. She was then taken back to Jieyang and detained for two weeks. After she was released, the police repeatedly harassed her and her family.
A total of 280 practitioners, including Ms. Yuan and Ms. Zheng, did the Falun Gong exercises at a local plaza to protest their repeated arrests for practicing their faith. They were all arrested. Ms. Yuan was given two years of forced labor.
While Ms. Yuan was serving time, her family faced constant threats from the police. After she was released, the police still harassed her at home and monitored her phone and other activities. Her husband was unable to cope with the pressure. His health deteriorated and he passed away in early March 2003.
Ms. Yuan was arrested at home on January 12, 2006 and taken to the Jieyang City Detention Center. She developed high blood pressure and had a relapse of lymph tuberculosis, but the detention center refused to provide any medical treatment on the grounds that she would not take any medication even if she was diagnosed with a condition.
Ms. Yuan was secretly sentenced to five years in prison on July 21, 2006. She refused to sign the verdict. Three people grabbed her hand on July 27, 2006 in an attempt to force her to fingerprint the verdict. She firmly resisted.
In August 2006, Ms. Yuan was admitted to the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison. While she was detained there, the guards forced her to read and watch videos that slandered Falun Gong every day. They also instigated the inmates to use obscene words to insult her. She was monitored around the clock, even when she used the restroom. She refused to comply with the guards’ demands and was often subjected to various abuses, including long-time standing or sitting, no restroom breaks, sleep deprivation, no purchasing daily necessities, no showering, no family visits, and no phone calls or letters with family.
Ms. Zheng went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on January 1, 2000 and was taken to the Jieyang City’s Liaison Office in Beijing by a plainclothes agent. He confiscated her ID and cash and held her in a small room. He only gave her two steamed buns to eat that day. The next day, the Rongcheng District Police Department in Jieyang City sent people to Beijing to fetch her. She was detained in Jieyang for 15 days and fined 6,500 yuan. Before she was released, she was forced to pay the local detention center 800 yuan.
Ms. Zheng’s employer demanded that she write statements to renounce Falun Gong before she could resume work. Her family feared being implicated and sent her back to her hometown in Raoping County. In early March 2000, during the communist regime’s two annual political meetings, the Jieyang police took her back and held her at a brainwashing center for an unknown amount of time.
On June 22, 2000, Ms. Zheng was deceived into reporting to a police office and she was arrested. She was detained for one day and released. On June 25 that year, Ms. Zheng, Ms. Yuan, and 278 other practitioners did the Falun Gong exercises at a plaza. They were all arrested and taken to their respective local police stations. Ms. Zheng was detained for two weeks and fined 600 yuan before being moved to a police station where she was held until September 6, 2000. She was also fined over 1,400 yuan. That same day, her husband filed for divorce, afraid that he would be implicated and persecuted. She understood his concerns and signed the divorce paper.
The next day, September 7, 2000, Ms. Zheng was given a forced labor term—the length is unknown. The labor camp guards forced her to watch videos that slander Falun Gong every day. Later they made her do hard labor from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. When her term was up, the guards detained her for an additional 40 more days before they released her.
In the years that followed, Ms. Zheng was harassed at home numerous times and ordered to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong.