Zhongwei City, Ningxia: Nine Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison

(Minghui.org) Nine Zhongwei City, Ningxia residents, including a married couple, were sentenced to prison on May 6, 2023, for not renouncing their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Yang Jie, 53, was sentenced to six years, with a 20,000 yuan fine.Mr. Zheng Yongxin (Ms.Yang’s husband), 56, was sentenced to five years and ten months, with a 15,000-yuan fine.Ms. Chang Xiue, 54, was sentenced to four years and two months, with a 7,000 yuan fine.Ms. Jing Yuling, 58, was sentenced to three years and ten months, with a 6,000 yuan fine.Ms. Huang Yuxia, 62, was sentenced to three years and six months, with a 5,000 yuan fine.Ms. Wang Shunqin, 59, was sentenced to two years and ten months, with a 4,000 yuan fine.Ms. Wen Jing, 60, was sentenced to two years and eight months, with a 3,500 yuan fine.Ms. Wen Yuxiu, a 70-year-old retired middle school teacher, was sentenced to two years and four months, with a 3,000-yuan fine.Ms. Zhang Yulian, 57, was sentenced to two years and two months, with a 2,500 yuan fine.

Arrests and Court Hearing

Between July and December 2020, multiple counties in Ningxia carried out the“Zero-out” campaign, in which the local police and residential committee staff members harassed every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s blacklist and ordered them to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong.

A dozen practitioners who refused to give up their faith were arrested on October 25, 2020, including the aforementioned nine practitioners.

The Shapotou District Procuratorate indicted the nine practitioners on April 30, 2021, and moved their cases to the Shapotou District Court. The judge ruled to put the cases on hold on May 25, 2021 but restarted them on April 6, 2023.

When the practitioners appeared in court on April 18, all of them pleaded not guilty. Five of them were represented by their lawyers and two practitioners were represented by their family defenders. The lawyer and the family defenders all entered a not-guilty plea for the practitioners.

The practitioners recounted how their health and character improved after taking up Falun Gong. They argued that the Constitution protects people’s rights to practice their faith and that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong in China. They urged the judge to uphold justice and acquit them.

Previous Persecution

Prior to their latest sentencing, six of the nine practitioners have been targeted for their faith before.

Ms. Yang, a former life insurance company employee, was arrested twice in 1999, first on August 28 and then on September 10. She was detained for 15 days each time. She was also extorted 3,000 yuan after the second arrest. She was arrested again in October 2000 for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was given a two-year labor camp term on November 27, 2000. She was sentenced to 3.5 years on December 23, 2005, following another arrest. She was arrested again on September 17, 2019, and detained for 14 days.

Ms. Yang’s husband, Mr. Zheng, a retired Power Bureau employee, was given three years of forced labor on October 18, 2000, and sentenced to six years on April 9, 2002. As he refused to renounce Falun Gong, his workplace fired him and his first wife divorced him. He married Ms. Yang in 2010. The couple were both arrested on September 17, 2019, and detained for 14 days.

Ms. Chang, a small business owner, was arrested on April 8, 2016, and detained for eight days for filing a complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former communist regime leader who ordered the persecution. She was arrested again on August 14, 2020, for talking to people about Falun Gong and detained for 13 days.

Ms. Jing, a doctor, was arrested on July 31, 2019, and detained for 15 days for talking to people about Falun Gong. Her husband, Mr. Pan Yongquan, who also practiced Falun Gong, suffered a mental breakdown and couldn’t talk clearly due to the persecution.

Ms. Wang was arrested on December 4, 2015, for suing Jiang Zemin and detained for eight days.

Ms. Wen Yuxiu was arrested on September 18, 2016, and detained for eight days, also for suing Jiang.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Liu Wei (刘伟), president of Shapotou District Court: [phone]Wang Jing (王静), presiding judge of Shapotou District Court: [phone], [phone]Zhang Bin (张斌), president of Shapotou District Procuratorate: [phone]Wang Shunkun (王舜坤), prosecutor of Shapotou District Procuratorate: [phone]

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

Related reports:

Ningxia Man in Serious Condition While Detained for His Faith

Cases Against 7 Falun Gong Practitioners in Ningxia Province Put on Hold, They Remain in Detention

After Years of Incarceration and Torture, Ningxia Couple Arrested for Their Faith Again