Yunnan Judge Sentences Seven Falun Gong Practitioners to Prison Since 2014

(Minghui.org) Since the Kunming City Intermediate Court in Yunnan Province delegated the Xishan District Court to handle Falun Gong cases in the greater Kunming area in 2014, the lower court has sentenced over 60 Falun Gong practitioners to prison for their faith. In particular, judge Pu Huijun has sentenced seven practitioners, more than any other judge.

Pu Huijun

Below are the seven prison sentences handed down by judge Pu ([phone]).

Retired employee of Kunming Heavy Machinery Factory Secretly Sentenced to Four Years

Ms. Yin Shuyuan, a 69-year-old retired employee of Kunming Heavy Machinery Factory, was arrested around 3 p.m. on September 9, 2013, while walking on the street with her daughter. She was held at the Kunming City Detention Center. The Xishan District Procuratorate on February 25, 2014, charged her with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners.

Judges Pu and Su Qin held a secret hearing of Ms. Yin’s case on April 9, 2014, without informing her lawyer or family. Ms. Yin testified in her own defense. She argued that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong in China and that she didn’t harm anyone in practicing her faith. Judge Pu adjourned the hearing in 30 minutes and sentenced her to four years.

Former Library Staffer Also Sentenced to Four Years

Ms. Guo Lingna, born in December 1961, used to work for the Kunming Cement Company Union Library. She was arrested on April 10, 2014, by officers from the Daguan Police Station. The police slapped her in the face and kicked her during the interrogation. When she told another officer about the beating, the first officer slapped her in the face two more times. The police also took turns stomping on her feet when she refused to sign the case document. She had multiple injuries on her body.

Ms. Guo was later indicted by prosecutor Du Xiulian of the Xishan District Procuratorate. During her first hearing at the Xishan District Court on September 23, 2014, her lawyer demanded that the five officers who violently interrogated her, including Yang Yinxiang, Wen Yongxiang, Meng Yajun, Zhu Zhengbao, and Zhang Xian, appear in court for cross-examination. He also pointed out that one piece of the evidence was verified by the 610 Office, which was an extralegal agency created specifically to persecute Falun Gong and had no legal authority to authenticate prosecution evidence.

At Ms. Guo’s second hearing on January 29, 2015, judge Pu ordered her lawyer to go through the security checkpoint, when by law lawyers are exempted from security checks. The lawyer refused to cooperate and was barred from entering the courtroom. Ms. Guo demanded that the judge adjourn the hearing. Pu ordered the bailiffs to keep her in her seat to prevent her from leaving the court. Pu proceeded with the hearing and sentenced Ms. Guo to four years.

While serving time in the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison, Ms. Guo was forced to sit on a small stool all day long and denied family visits. The authorities had strict control over her daily life and denied many of her basic living rights, including taking showers, buying daily necessities, using the restroom, and attempting to force her to give up Falun Gong. They sometimes starved her and didn’t allow her to drink water. When her parents passed away, she wasn’t allowed to attend their funerals.

Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Guo was given a two-year labor camp term in 2007 for talking to a security officer about Falun Gong and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2009 for distributing informational materials. Her husband was forced to divorce her. The library where she worked withheld her salary, causing her financial difficulties.

Two Yunnan Province Residents Sentenced to Prison

Ms. Tang Yu, a former employee of Xihua Park, and Ms. Li Haiyan were arrested on January 18 and March 5, 2022, respectively, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.

Both women were indicted by the Xishan District Procuratorate on December 28, 2021, with the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization.”

During their hearing at the Xishan District Court on June 21, 2022, no prosecution witness appeared in court to accept cross-examination, nor did the prosecutor exhibit any prosecution evidence in court. Judge Pu announced the verdicts a day later: Ms. Tang, then 52, was sentenced to three years and eight months, with an 8,000 yuan fine. Ms. Li Haiyan, then 64, was given three years and three months, with a 6,000 yuan fine.

81-Year-Old Woman Sentenced to One Year and Six Months

Ms. Wang Fengying, a former employee of the Yunnan Automobile Industry Corporation, was arrested at a farmer’s market on October 11, 2020, after being suspected of distributing calendars with information about Falun Gong. The police took her keys and ransacked her home in the afternoon. No list of confiscated items was given. She was then released on bail.

After Ms. Wang was indicted by the Xishan District Procuratorate in March 2022, she wrote to judge Pu and urged him to drop her case. She was never able to talk to Pu directly, either when she called or went to the court to look for him. When she submitted her materials seeking justice to a court clerk named Wu Run, he always had a hostile attitude. He also accused Ms. Wang of promoting Falun Gong and threatened to give her a heavy term.

Ms. Wang was informed by the court on April 7, 2022, that she was scheduled to stand trial five days later. On April 8, a lawyer surnamed Yang called her and said that she was appointed by the judge to represent her and enter a guilty plea for her.

Although Ms. Wang refused to accept Yang’s legal representation, Yang still showed up at the court for the scheduled hearing. Ms. Wang made it clear to judge Pu that she didn’t want Yang’s representation. Yang thus left.

As the hearing proceeded, the prosecutor didn’t show any prosecution evidence against Ms. Wang, nor did any witness appear in court to accept cross-examination. Ms. Wang testified in her own defense and was frequently interrupted by judge Pu.

On April 24, Ms. Wang received her verdict, which stated that she was sentenced to 1.5 years and fined 5,000 yuan. The document was dated April 13, the day after the hearing.

Yunnan Man Wrongfully Sentenced, Deprived of Many Legal Rights

Mr. Wen Yongshu, born in 1968, used to work at the Southwest Instrument Factory and also taught at Yunnan Mechanical and Electrical Vocational and Technical College. He was arrested on July 31, 2023, when he returned home for lunch around 1 p.m. The police in plainclothes spent three hours raiding his home without producing a search warrant, although they claimed that they had a copy. They also ordered Mr. Wen to confirm that the confiscated items were his, but without providing a formal list as required by law.

While Mr. Wen’s case was with the Xishan District Procuratorate, prosecutor Zhang Yanlin blocked Mr. Wen’s wife, Ms. Dong Kaizhen, from reviewing his case file or visiting him. Zhang claimed that only lawyers would be allowed to review the case file as they wouldn’t reveal it to the public. Zhang indicted Mr. Wen on November 16, 2023 and refused to provide a copy of the indictment to his family.

As soon as Mr. Wen’s case was moved to the Xishan District Court in mid-December 2023, Ms. Dong contacted judge Pu as his family defender. With her persistent requests, Pu finally provided a copy of her husband’s indictment. She also requested to review the case file and visit her husband, as well as to return the confiscated items and exclude them from his prosecution evidence. Pu ignored her requests.

On January 10, 2024, Ms. Dong hired a lawyer for him. When she and the lawyer went to the court to review his case file, judge Pu still denied Ms. Dong’s request to visit her husband or communicate with him in other forms. He allowed the lawyer to review and make copies of the case file, but not Ms. Dong. He again refused to return the confiscated items or exclude them from prosecution evidence.

While the lawyer was reviewing Mr. Wen’s case file, Pu and his bailiff forced Ms. Dong to turn in her cellphone and delete all audio recordings in it. They claimed that since Mr. Wen already had a lawyer, she could no longer be his family defender, even when the Chinese law allows the defendant to have up to two defenders.

Not satisfied with the lawyer’s performance, Ms. Dong dismissed him on January 11, 2024, and hired a friend to represent her husband as a non-lawyer defender. Although the law allows a friend to be one’s non-lawyer defender, judge Pu insisted that the friend demonstrate his family relationship with Mr. Wen, claiming that only a family member could be his non-lawyer defender. Even after Ms. Dong obtained a letter to demonstrate the friend relationship according to the law, judge Pu still barred him from representing Mr. Wen and only accepted his written defense statement.

Judge Pu held a hearing of Mr. Wen’s case on January 30, 2024, without allowing his friend to defend him in court as a non-lawyer defender. Upon finding out that the friend had entered the court and passed the security screening, the police forcibly removed him from the courthouse and didn’t allow him to re-enter.

Meanwhile, Ms. Dong was finally allowed to represent her husband as a family defender. Only she and their oldest daughter, Ms. Wen Xin, were allowed to attend the hearing. All other relatives and friends who came to support Mr. Wen were stopped at the entrance of the court and watched by the police until the end of the hearing.

Ms. Dong requested at least five times for judge Pu to show the legal basis for his claim that Falun Gong was a cult, but Pu repeatedly ignored her. Neither he nor prosecutor Zhang provided any information about which law’s enforcement was undermined by Mr. Wen.

Prosecutor Zhang only described the evidence, but without showing the real items in court. Zhang also read an interrogation account of Mr. Wen’s youngest daughter about her father’s practice of Falun Gong, despite the fact that the account wasn’t included in Mr. Wen’s case file. Ms. Dong argued that her daughter was forced to provide the information after being terrified by the police. And it’s her husband’s freedom of belief to practice Falun Gong, which didn’t violate any law.

No witness was present to accept cross-examination either. Ms. Dong demanded that the prosecutor exhibit the evidence and that the judge summon the witnesses, but to no avail.

Ms. Dong demanded many times to read her defense statement, but was denied by judge Pu. Only during the closing argument section did Pu allow her to read it, but he stopped her after she had only read the opening. Mr. Wen’s own defense was repeatedly interrupted by Pu as well, who also barred him from making a closing statement.

Judge Pu sentenced Mr. Wen to three years with a 5,000-yuan fine on February 20, 2024.

79-Year-Old Physician Sentenced to Four Years

Mr. Su Zesheng, born in July 1946, used to work as an attending physician at the Pu’er County People’s Hospital in Yunnan Province. Since the persecution started in 1999, he was repeatedly arrested, fired by the hospital, and sentenced to one year in 2007.

Mr. Su was arrested again on November 15, 2023, together with seven other family members, including his wife, Ms. Zhang Zhenyi, son Mr. Su Kun, and daughter-in-law Ms. Zhang Xiaodan. While his family was all released, Mr. Su Zesheng was held in custody. One of his friends applied to be his non-lawyer family defender, but was denied by prosecutor Su Jing of the Xishan District Procuratorate.

Mr. Su was indicted around May 7, 2024. When his wife went to the procuratorate to pick up his indictment two days later, judge Pu (pretending to be a bailiff) and court clerk Zhang Shiman showed up. While Zhang was reading the indictment, Pu videotaped Ms. Zhang.

Judge Pu later held a secret hearing of Mr. Su’s case, without the presence of his family or lawyer. He announced on December 21, 2024, to sentence Mr. Su to four years with a 5,000-yuan fine.