(Minghui.org) A court in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, paused its case against Ms. Wang Lanmei for practicing Falun Gong two years ago. It then reopened the case and sentenced her to two years in prison.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Wang, 75, was arrested when she went out to discard trash on the afternoon of October 18, 2018. The police had knocked on her door hours earlier. As she refused to let them in, they hid in the apartment building and arrested her when she came out. Without her presence, the police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong items.
As Ms. Wang was found to have extremely high blood pressure, a heart condition, and a stroke, the Gujiao City Detention Center twice rejected her admission. She was released and placed under house arrest on October 20.
Upon returning home, Ms. Wang’s memory quickly declined. She said she was given an injection at the hospital and she suspected that she was given toxic drugs.
Although Ms. Wang was later indicted by the Yingze District Procuratorate on January 2, 2019, the Yingze District Court decided to pause her case on April 2, 2019. This type of temporary closure of cases simply means that the cases are put on hold without a final decision and may be reopened later.
On August 5, 2021, Guo Xiaoqin, the judge in charge of Ms. Wang’s case, summoned her lawyer to the court and announced that a hearing had been scheduled. At the same time, Zhao Changqing, Yuan Benzhong, and Wang Li of the Changfengdong Police Station went to Ms. Wang’s home and connected her to the virtual hearing.
Judge Guo sentenced Ms. Wang to two years with a 10,000-yuan fine on August 19.
Ms. Wang’s lawyer said he has never seen such a case, in which the court sentenced a Falun Gong practitioner after pausing the case for years.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Guo Xiaoqin (郭晓琴), judge of Yingze District Court: +86-351-5688018Ren Xingui (任欣贵), prosecutor of Yingze District Procuratorate: +86-351-4237505Yuan Benzhong (原本忠), officer of Changfengdong Police Station: +86-351-7679110
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
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