(Minghui.org) Ms. Xu Xiuzhen from Gaomi City, Shandong Province, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison within weeks of her arrest on November 7, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Ms. Xu is currently held in the Weifang City Detention Center. Details about her indictment, trial and sentencing are not clear.
Prior to Ms. Xu’s sentencing, her older daughter, Ms. Qin Shaohua, was secretly sentenced to 2.5 years earlier this year, also for practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Qin’s 10-year-old daughter lived with Ms. Xu and her husband. But the Gaomi City Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extra-judiciary agency tasked with overseeing the persecution, forced the girl to transfer to a different school and live with her father, who separated from Ms. Qin nearly ten years ago.
Ms. Xu’s arrest by the Xiazhuang Town Police Station was ordered by Gao Jie, the head of the Gaomi City 610 Office and the Gaomi City Domestic Security Office. One day after her arrest, her husband, Mr. Qin Songfa, was also arrested by officers from the same police station. He was sent to the Gaomi City Detention Center. The couple’s second daughter, Ms. Qin Shaoying, was traumatized by the persecution and suffered a mental breakdown. The couple’s son, Mr. Qin Jin, was arrested on November 10, 2023 and interrogated at a police station for 24 hours before he was released. The police now monitor his cellphone.
Older Daughter Is Sentenced
The family’s ordeal stemmed from the arrest of the older daughter, Ms. Qin Shaohua, on May 31, 2022, after she was reported by two property management workers for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in her residential area. The police raided her home and released her on bail that evening.
The Gaomi City Court scheduled a hearing of Ms. Qin’s case for December 1, 2022. She did not attend it, and was arrested on February 8, 2023 and taken to the Weifang City Detention Center. Her family did not receive an official update about her case and they found out on July 17, 2023 that she was sentenced to 2.5 years.
Ms. Qin’s parents wrote complaint letters against her arresting officers from the Furi Police Station and other perpetrators involved in her persecution. In the next few months, Ms. Xu and Mr. Qin mailed out more than 400 letters to various agencies at the central, provincial, municipal and township government levels.
When Mr. Qin went to see Xu Bo (no relation to Ms. Xu), the Yimin Village secretary in mid-April 2023, Xu called Wang Dapeng, secretary of Gaomi City Political and Legal Affairs Committee, for instruction. After hanging up the phone, Xu told Mr. Qin, “Don’t write any more complaint letters. Don’t give me any more headaches.”
Mother and Second Daughter’s Persecution
On March 3, 2023, Ms. Xu and her second daughter Ms. Qin Shaoying were also arrested after they were reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a community fair. Their home was ransacked and they were released around noon.
Both the mother and daughter were summoned to the Xiazhuang Town Police Station on March 10 and ordered to sign their case documents. The police also collected their fingerprints and took their photos on the street (likely to falsely accuse them of distributing Falun Gong materials there). The police harassed them again on March 18, attempting to collect more information to charge them. Traumatized by the persecution, Ms. Qin suffered a mental breakdown and was sent to a psychiatric hospital.
An officer from the Xiazhuan Town Police Station went to Ms. Xu’s home on June 13 and ordered her to fingerprint a case document. He said that she was still on bail and they were monitoring her daily activities. It’s not clear whether Ms. Xu complied.
Four police officers returned at 6: 30 a.m. on September 5. When Mr. Qin refused to open the door, the police borrowed a ladder from his neighbor, scaled the fence wall and broke in. They deceived Ms. Xu into going with them to the Gaomi City Procuratorate. A prosecutor asked Ms. Xu where she got the Falun Gong materials she distributed earlier. She refused to answer. The police sent her home around 11 a.m.
Three officers attempted to deceive Ms. Xu into going to the Gaomi City Court on October 13, but she refused this time. Five days later, the police returned with a few court staffers, and told her that a hearing of her case was scheduled for November 6. While it’s not clear whether she attended the hearing, she was arrested on November 7 and sentenced to 2.5 years at an unknown date. Her family suspected that her expedited sentencing was part of the authorities’ retaliation for her efforts to seek justice for her older daughter.
Related Reports:
Shandong Woman Gets 2.5-Year Prison Term for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Husband and Wife Detained, Daughter Persecuted for Hiring a Lawyer
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