(Minghui.org) Two Qingdao City, Shandong Province, residents were sentenced to prison by the same judge of Huangdao District Court on July 30, 2020 for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Liu Rulan, 71, was sentenced to three years and fined 6,000 yuan. Ms. Zhao Renxia, 50, was given seven years and fined 20,000 yuan.
Judge Wang Decheng, who was in charge of both practitioners’ cases, has a track record of sentencing Falun Gong practitioners. Just in 2019, Wang sentenced at least three Falun Gong practitioners to prison, including Mr. Du Zhaocai and his wife Ms. Wu Ruifang (both given six years), and Ms. Zhou Minglan (fourteen months).
Below are details of the two practitioners’ cases.
Ms. Liu Rulan
Ms. Liu was arrested at work on October 15, 2019. The police submitted her case to the Huangdao District Procuratorate on January 2, 2020, and the procuratorate returned the case in late February 2020 due to insufficient evidence.
One of Ms. Liu’s relatives, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested on March 16, 2020, when she went to the local police station to seek Ms. Liu's release. The police ransacked the relative's home, confiscated the photo of Falun Gong’s founder and a calendar with information about Falun Gong, and held her at the police station for five hours, before releasing her.
After the police submitted Ms. Liu’s case for the second time, the prosecutor indicted her on April 7 and forwarded her case to Huangdao Court.
On July 16, 2020, Ms. Liu was tried by the Huangdao Court through a teleconference at the Pudong Detention Center, where she has been held since her arrest. Her lawyer attended the hearing at the detention center. The judge announced her verdict on July 30.
Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Liu served three years for her faith between 2011 and 2014. As her ex-husband has passed away, her adult son, who has an intellectual disability, struggles to care for himself while she is away.
Ms. Zhao Renxia
Ms. Zhao’s arrest on January 6, 2020 was preceded by multiple prior arrests in the past three years for her faith. The police submitted her case to the Huangdao District Procuratorate in late April 2020. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, she has been denied visits by her lawyer.
Ms. Zhao, who was also detained at the Pudong Detention Center, was tried through a teleconference on July 16 as well. Her lawyer and family members attended the hearing in person at the court. Upon finding out that her son, Mr. Xing Haodong, was in the gallery, judge Wang Decheng ordered him removed from the courtroom, using the excuse that Mr. Xing, whose interrogation account had been included as part of the prosecution evidence and who had been listed as a witness against his mother, wasn’t allowed to attend the hearing.
Ms. Zhao denied the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used by the Chinese courts to sentence Falun Gong practitioners, against her. Her lawyer also entered a not guilty plea for her.
Ms. Zhao has appealed her case with the Qingdao City Intermediate Court after receiving her verdict on July 30.
Related reports:
Shandong Woman Arrested for Her Faith, Special Needs Son Left Unattended
Shandong Woman Faces Prosecution for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Shandong Man Released after Procuratorate Declines to Issue Arrest Warrant
