Elderly Woman Hospitalized Six Times due to Police Harassment While Awaiting Trial, Now Sentenced to Prison for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A 71-year-old Huaian City, Jiangsu Province resident was sentenced to one year in prison with a 1,000-yuan fine on January 29, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Feng Huizhen was arrested on March 29, 2022 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home without showing their IDs or a search warrant. Her garage wasn’t spared in the raid. No list of confiscated items was provided, nor did the police go through the items in front of Ms. Feng.

Ms. Feng was later released on bail. The Lianshui County Procuratorate indicted her in May 2022. She stood trial at the Lianshui County Court in September 2022.

Ms. Feng’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea during her hearing. He pointed out the prosecutor had no legal basis to charge her with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” as no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China. The presiding judge, Li Yang, threatened the lawyer and attempted to stop him from talking. The prosecutor, Yang Haijiao, also yelled at both Ms. Feng and her lawyer, accusing Ms. Feng of distributing cult promotional materials. Yang also ordered Ms. Feng to confess where she got the materials, threatening to give her a heavy term if she didn’t comply. 

Ms. Feng testified in her own defense. She said that she practices Falun Gong to be a good person and improve health. She added that Falun Gong isn’t on the cult list published by the Ministry of Public Security and that the Chinese publication bureau has long lifted the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011. Both the judge and the prosecutor ignored her argument.

The police alleged that Ms. Feng distributed 101 copies of Falun Gong materials when she never did. The judge, however, cited the police-fabricated evidence in the verdict handed down on January 29, 2023. 

While on bail, Ms. Feng endured constant police harassment. The mental distress took a toll on her health, causing her to be hospitalized six times. She was yet to be discharged when she received the verdict. Although her family reported her health condition to the court, Tan Wendong, chief of the Yuanjixiang Police Station, still harassed her.

When the bailiff came to Ms. Feng’s home on March 23, 2023 to take her to the prison, the bailiffs had to carry her into the car as she was so weak and her legs were so swollen that she couldn’t walk on her own. After a comprehensive physical examination, the court agreed for her to serve time outside of prison. Her family was forced to pay the 3,000-yuan examination fee. It’s not clear whether Ms. Feng has been taken back home at the time of writing.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Gong Huaijun (龚怀军), president of Lianshui County Procuratorate: [phone]Yang Haijiao (杨海峤), prosecutor of Lianshui County Procuratorate: [phone]Liu Yang (刘洋), president of Lianshui County Court: [phone]Li Yang (李洋), judge of Lianshui County Court

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)