Husband Sentenced to 5 Years, Wife Arrested Less Than Two Months Later for Seeking Justice for Him

(Minghui.org) A 63-year-old resident of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was secretly sentenced to five years on March 25, 2025 for practicing Falun Gong. His wife was arrested on May 15 because she sought justice for him.

Mr. Xu Weidong, born in August 1961, was arrested on November 26, 2023. The Wenjiang District Procuratorate indicted the former metallurgical engineer in November 2024 and threatened to give him a heavy sentence if he refused to admit his “guilt.” Mr. Xu reiterated his innocence and refused to sign the indictment.

Mr. Xu’s wife, Ms. Sun Fenghua, requested to represent him as a non-lawyer defender but was repeatedly rejected by the Wenjiang District Court. She then hired a lawyer but the lawyer’s local justice bureau threatened him and told him not to defend a Falun Gong practitioner.

The Wenjiang District Court did not give Ms. Sun any updates on the case. She learned on April 21, 2025 that her husband had been secretly tried and sentenced to five years. When she called the court, she was told that the guilty verdict was handed down on March 25, 2025. She asked for a copy of the ruling but the court said that only the defendant could have the document. Her request to review the case file was also denied.

Ms. Sun went to the Wenjiang District Detention Center two days later, but was denied visits with her husband. A guard claimed that the case was a state secret and no family visits were allowed. He said that Mr. Xu was scheduled to be transferred to the Jiazhou Prison (formerly known as Wumaping Prison) in one week and Ms. Sun had to wait three months to see him there.

Ms. Sun filed a motion to reconsider her husband’s case. She also filed complaints against the Wenjiang District Procuratorate and the Wenjiang District Court. On May 15, 2025, as soon as she returned home from work, she was arrested at the door and put in criminal detention at the Wenjiang District Detention Center.

Details of Arrest and Indictment

Mr. Xu and Ms. Sun were arrested just after 4 p.m. on November 26, 2023. Officers from the Liucheng Police Station confiscated the couple’s computer, printer, and Falun Gong books. The police targeted the couple because they talked to people about Falun Gong.

Ms. Sun was released on December 7, 2023, but Mr. Xu was put in administrative detention at the Yongsheng Detention Center. Hours later, the police escalated his detention to criminal detention on the grounds that he was a “repeat offender.” Mr. Xu previously served a ten-year prison term (May 2002 – May 2012) for intercepting TV signals to broadcast programs debunking the hate propaganda against Falun Gong.

The police submitted the case to the Wenjiang District Procuratorate on December 14, 2023. One week later, prosecutor Liu Xu issued a formal arrest warrant for Mr. Xu. Officer Huang Kai notified Ms. Sun on the phone to report to the police station to sign the warrant. Ms. Sun went but was forced to change the warrant date from December 21 to November 26, 2023 (the day of the arrest).

An officer came to the couple’s home on the night of December 23, 2023 and took Mr. Xu’s electric four-wheeler. The officer claimed that the four-wheeler was “evidence” and had to be confiscated.

Officers Huang, Zheng Qingbo, and Ma Huajun took Mr. Xu out of the Yongsheng Detention Center back to their police station on December 25, 2023. They forced him to stand by his four-wheeler and have his photo taken. They then submitted the “new evidence” to the procuratorate on February 21, 2024.

Prosecutor Liu indicted Mr. Xu in November 2024 and threatened to give him a heavy sentence if he refused to admit his “guilt.” Mr. Xu reiterated his innocence and refused to sign the indictment.

Ms. Sun submitted requests to the Wenjiang District Court, asking to know the legal basis for her husband’s indictment and a reevaluation of the police-supplied evidence against him. She also submitted a criminal complaint to the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. It is unclear who she listed as the defendants. The high court responded that she should file her complaint to the relevant agencies directly in charge of these matters. She did after her husband was secretly tried and sentenced, only to be arrested herself.

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