Former Police Officer Becomes Second Out-of-Province Resident Given Heavy Sentence by a Henan Court for Online Activities

(Minghui.org) After sentencing a Shanghai resident to a 9.5-year prison term for posting information about Falun Gong on social media, a court in Luoyang City, Henan Province recently handed down a 9-year sentence to another woman from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, also for raising awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong online.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been suppressed by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhang Xia, 53, a former police officer herself, was arrested at home on the morning of February 28, 2021, by officers from Luoyang, about 350 miles from Wuhan. The police searched her home without showing their IDs or a search warrant. The Luoyang City Detention Center was forced to accept her on March 3, after rejecting her admission three times. The Jianxi Police Station in Luoyang officially arrested her on April 8, 2021.

In order to frame Ms. Zhang, the Luoyang police returned to Wuhan and attempted to force her parents to record a video to persuade Ms. Zhang to plead guilty.

Ms. Zhang stood trial at the Jianxi District Court on June 21, 2022, and was sentenced to nine years and fined 30,000 yuan on the charge of “promoting a cult with a communications network.” The presiding judge in charge of the case was Li Yongshun, and he had two assistant judges, Li Lianqun and Chen Xiuhua.

Ms. Zhang appealed with the Luoyang City Intermediate Court on June 29, 2022. She is still waiting for the result at the time of writing.

Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Zhang was detained for 15 days after being arrested on April 29, 2014 for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was later taken to a brainwashing center and fired by the Jiang’an District Police Station on May 23.

Since 2019, the police in Henan have gone across the country and arrested multiple practitioners for spreading information online about the persecution of Falun Gong.

In addition to Ms. Zhang, Ms. Dai Zhiying of Shanghai has been sentenced to 9.5 years. Three more practitioners, Ms. Fu Nijuan of Zhijiang City, Hubei Province, Mr. Li Fuchun of Beijing, and Mr. Wu Jiajian of Laixi City, Shandong Province, have also been arrested by the Luoyang police between October and November 2020. They are now awaiting trial by the Jianxi District Court, after being indicted by prosecutor Wu Jiangyang of the Jianxi District Procuratorate on April 25, 2021.

Related reports:

After 8 Years in Prison, Shanghai Resident Sentenced to Another 9.5 Years by Out-of-Province Court

Four Chongqing Residents Sentenced in Henan Province

Hebei Resident Faces Prosecution in Henan for Posting Information on WeChat