Heilongjiang Woman Sentenced to Two Years for Distributing Informational Materials

(Minghui.org) It has recently been confirmed by Minghui.org that a Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province resident was sentenced to two years with 20,000 yuan fine on May 25, 2021.

Ms. Gu Qiaoling, 60, was arrested on September 30, 2020, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong in a residential building. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999. 

Over ten booklets and several hundred yuan banknotes printed with short messages about Falun Gong were confiscated from her. Due to strict information censorship in China, many Falun Gong practitioners are using creative ways to raise awareness about the persecution, including printing short messages on banknotes.

Police officer Shen Xudong and a few others came to Ms. Gu’s home at around 5 p.m. that evening. As her husband Mr. Zhu Xueshuang refused to open the door, the police removed the peephole and stuck a metal wire into the small hole in order to open the door. Mr. Zhu locked the door from inside and said he wouldn’t allow the police to come in.

After the police left, Mr. Zhu went to the Xingkaihu Farm Police Station at around 6 p.m. to seek Ms. Gu’s release, only to be arrested himself. The security head, Feng Hui, and police chief Yang Jun held him at the police station overnight.

At 8 a.m. the next day, the police dispatched two cars and took the couple to the Jixi City Detention Center. While no one was at home, the police ransacked their place in the evening. 

Mr. Zhu was held at the Jixi City Detention Center for 20 days and then transferred to the Mishan City Lockup for another 10 days, before being released on October 31. 

On November 6, two days after Ms. Gu’s arrest was approved by the Jiansanjiang Farm Procuratorate, Feng Hui and another officer went to Mr. Zhu’s home and ordered him to sign her arrest approval notice. He refused to comply and insisted that she didn’t commit any crime. The police then left.

The Jiansanjiang Farm Procuratorate later transferred Ms. Gu’s case to the Hongxinglong Farm Procuratorate, which indicted her and moved her case to the Hongxinglong Farm Court.

The Hongxinglong Farm Court held a hearing of Ms. Gu’s case on May 17, 2021. Only her lawyer was allowed to attend and her family was stopped outside.

Prosecutor Feng Fei presented 1,237 Falun Gong related items confiscated from Ms. Gu’s home as prosecution evidence against her. He suggested to sentence her to three years with a court fine. 

Ms. Gu’s lawyer argued that the police ransacked his client’s home when no one was around and they failed to verify the confiscated items with her. The prosecutor also failed to explain how having a Falun Gong booklet had violated any law or what harm it caused to others. The lawyer demanded the judge acquit Ms. Gu.

The prosecutor also listed witnesses Mu Lili, Wang Chunying, Xu Surong and Liu Jiangye on the indictment. But none of them appeared in court to accept cross examination.

The presiding judge, Wang Xiaodong, sentenced Ms. Gu to two years with a 20,000-yuan fine on May 25, 2021. She is scheduled to be released on September 30, 2022. 

Two more judges, Xu Zhenming and Yu Zhuangjun, as well as the judge’s assistant Wang Fengkai and court clerk Wu Di, also participated in Ms. Gu’s sentencing.