(Minghui.org) A Chengdu City, Sichuan Province resident was recently sentenced to two years for raising awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong, which has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Shui Qionghua was arrested on May 13, 2021, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a farmers’ market. She was taken to the Shuangliu District Detention Center the next day and has been held there since.
Ms. Shui appeared in the Shuangliu District Court on April 28, 2022. She said that she felt like dying every time she had an asthma attack in the past, but that she was grateful that her condition was cured after she took up the practice of Falun Gong. Over twenty years have passed since and she has never had another asthma attack again.
The prosecutor charged Ms. Shui with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used against Falun Gong practitioners. He listed the Falun Gong informational materials confiscated from Ms. Shui’s car and home as prosecution evidence against her and recommended a 3-7 year prison sentence against her.
Ms. Shui’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. He argued that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong in China or labels it as a cult. He added that the prosecutor failed to provide any evidence to show how his client had allegedly undermined which law. In addition, the Falun Gong materials confiscated from her couldn’t show how she had harmed anyone or anything in society.
The prosecutor insisted that it’s an indisputable “fact” that Falun Gong is a cult. An audience member demanded the prosecutor provide evidence to support the claim but was stopped by the bailiff.
After a brief adjournment, the judge announced to sentence Ms. Shui to two years.
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