34-year-old Man Sentenced to Eight Years for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A 34-year-old Chengdu City, Sichuan Province resident was sentenced to eight years on February 15, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Qu Xing was arrested outside of his rental apartment on June 8, 2021. His mother, Ms. Xu Yanping, who also practices Falun Gong, was arrested on the same day.

Mr. Qu had his arrest approved and remains in custody. Ms. Xu was later released and placed on house arrest. The police fined her 900 yuan on February 13, 2022.

Li Guodong, a prosecutor at the Gaoxin District Procuratorate, told Ms. Xu in March 2022 that he had indicted her son and moved his case to the Gaoxin District Court. When Ms. Xu went to the court on June 20 to submit an application to represent her son as a non-lawyer defender, judge Xie Gang refused to accept her paperwork, all the while shouting and cursing at her.

After Ms. Xu filed a complaint against judge Xie, his attitude improved, but he still denied her request to be Mr. Qu’s family defender, with the excuse that she was a prosecution witness to his case.

During Mr. Qu’s trial on February 15, 2023, the court was heavily guarded by the bailiffs. Mr. Qu’s family, including his mother, weren’t allowed to attend the trial. Mr. Qu’s lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for him. The judge sentenced him to eight years in the afternoon.

Perpetrators’ information:

Huang Weizhi (黄维智), president of Gaoxin District Procuratorate: [phone]Li Guodong (李国栋), prosecutor of Gaoxin District Procuratorate: [phone], [phone]He Liangbin (何良彬), president of Gaoxin District Court: [phone]Wang Jiarui (王加睿), vice president of Gaoxin District CourtXie Gang (谢纲), judge of Gaoxin District Court