(Minghui.org) The wife of an ailing man serving 8.5 years for his faith in Falun Gong has been working tirelessly over the past year to seek his release on medical parole. The administrative complaint she filed against the authorities for withholding information about her husband was heard by the local court on December 8, 2021.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Han Junde of Baoding City, Hebei Province, was arrested with two other practitioners, Ms. Sun Liying and Ms. Li Yanqiu, on August 30, 2019, for making gourd crafts carved with Falun Gong’s principles, “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” They were sentenced to prison on February 26, 2020, by the Gaoyang County Court. Mr. Han was given 8.5 years and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Sun and Ms. Li were each sentenced to 8 years and fined 8,000.
Mr. Han appealed with the Baoding City Intermediate Court. His wife, Ms. Fu Gui, mailed appeal letters to the local procuratorate, People’s Congress, appeals office, and disciplinary agencies recounting the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong and demanding the release of her husband.
After the intermediate court ruled to uphold his original verdict, Ms. Fu was summoned by the police for interfering with public order, promoting Falun Gong, and interfering with the government’s normal operations. She was given seven days of administrative detention (which wasn’t enforced) and fined 300 yuan.
After two years in Jidong No.5 Prison, Mr. Han developed severe anemia. He is blind in one eye and he has to be wheeled around in the prison. Despite his condition, the guards refuse to allow him family visits or other correspondence, with the excuse that he has refused to plead guilty or to renounce Falun Gong. He has also been denied release on medical parole, although the doctor has evaluated his condition and determined that he is qualified.
Since March 2021, Mr. Han’s family has been urging the prison to get him medical treatment. They offered to pay the medical expenses on the condition that the prison provides timely communication about his situation. The prison took the money but refused to inform the family of his condition or allow Mr. Han to contact them. When Ms. Fu went to the prison to inquire about his condition and demand to see him on April 26, Huang Liansheng, the prison director, intimidated her.
Ms. Fu said the prison has a record of abusing Falun Gong practitioners. In 2015, a practitioner named Dong Hanjie, in his 50s and also of Baoding, died two months after being admitted to the prison. Another practitioner, Mr. Cao Jinxing, in his 60s, died in the prison in May 2020. She said she dared not imagine what the guards could do to Mr. Han.
On June 25, the prison informed Ms. Fu that they had initiated the process to review his application for medical parole. Ms. Fu learned in July that the application had been submitted to the Baoding Justice Bureau. In early August, the bureau returned the case to the prison, claiming the prison didn’t submit all the required paperwork. When Ms. Fu contacted the bureau in mid-August, they claimed that the Jingxiu District Justice Bureau was actually handling the case and she should contact them for any questions.
The prison called Ms. Fu on August 20, telling her that while Mr. Han was qualified for medical parole, there was no way for them to release him if he still refused to renounce Falun Gong. They said that they had received instructions from their superiors that even if Mr. Han had a medical emergency, as long as he didn’t renounce Falun Gong, the prison wouldn’t be held responsible—it would be his own fault not renouncing Falun Gong.
The prison mailed the required paperwork to the Jingxiu District Justice Bureau on August 23. The Bureau then called Ms. Fu and asked her if Mr. Han had renounced Falun Gong.
The Jingxiu District Justice Bureau expressed their intention to deny his medical parole, claiming that Ms. Fu might have negative influence over Mr. Han’s “transformation.” They also said that her residential committee had told them she wasn’t living in her own home. Ms. Fu argued that she now stays at her daughter’s place, as it’s not convenient to live on her own. She asked what that had to do with Mr. Han’s medical parole application.
Ms. Fu submitted an application to the Hebei Province Prison Administration Bureau on August 30, urging them to protect Mr. Han’s safety. She said that his medical parole should depend on his physical condition. Article 7 of the Prison Law makes it clear that it’s Mr. Han’s right to plead not guilty and that such a right should be protected. The prison was in no position to force him to plead guilty and it was illegal for them to grant or deny his medical parole based on whether or not he gives up Falun Gong.
Ms. Fu also filed a complaint with the Hebei Provincial Department of Justice on November 11, 2021, accusing the Jingxiu District Justice Bureau and its director, Xie, of delaying Mr. Han’s medical parole and putting his life in danger.
Ms. Fu submitted several applications to the Baoding City Police Department, asking them to release information about Mr. Han’s health while he was in the Baoding City Detention Center. In June, the police said that they weren’t in charge of such information. Ms. Fu filed an administrative motion with the Baoding City government to reconsider the case, but that was turned down as well.
She then filed an administrative complaint against both the Baoding City Police Department and Baoding City government. The case, number 289, was finally taken up by the Gaobeidian City Court.
The Gaobeidian City Court held a hearing on the complaint on December 8. Police officers Chen Minghui and Zheng Xia attended the hearing, as well as Dou Yueling and lawyer An Ziran of the Dagong Law firm, who represented the Baoding City government.
Having run around for a year filing complaints and applications, Ms. Fu had spent much of her savings. With Mr. Han’s pension having been suspended and the authorities ordering him to return the year’s worth of pension he had received before the suspension, she couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer and argued the case herself.
The hearing lasted less than an hour. Ms. Fu submitted her defense statement at judge Yan’s request. She demanded the video and audio recording of the hearing, but the judge hasn’t made it available to her.
After a year of non-stop efforts to seek justice for Mr. Han, Ms. Fu, in her 70s, has lost over 30 pounds and her hair has turned completely grey. She once said to her family that, as long as Mr. Han is still detained, she won’t stop seeking justice for him.
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