Retired Doctor, 80, Awaits Result after Protesting a Two-year Sentence for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) An 80-year-old retired doctor is still waiting for the result of her appeal protesting a two-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Arrests and Harassment

Ms. Liu Junhua retired from the hospital affiliated with Southwest Petroleum University in Nanchong City, Sichuan Province. She was arrested on March 11, 2021, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. Seven officers ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, informational materials, computer, and 1,000 yuan in cash with information about Falun Gong printed on the bills (as a way to raise awareness about the persecution given strict censorship in China). She was interrogated at the police station for a day and released on bail around midnight.

Two police officers and the university’s security director went to Ms. Liu’s home on April 23, 2021, and ordered her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She refused to comply and they left.

On July 23, 2021, the police installed a surveillance camera facing the front door of Ms. Liu’s apartment. Her husband, Mr. Luo Xuguang, took a photo of the camera and removed it that same day. He filed a complaint with the Shunqing District Court against the police for infringing on his family’s privacy. The case was later heard by the court on November 3, 2021, and the judge ordered the defendant to issue a written apology to Mr. Luo.

Dozens of residential committee staff members descended on Ms. Liu’s home on August 19, 2021. Mr. Luo sat at the door and didn’t let them come in. One person said he was a volunteer and had an ID. Mr. Luo still refused to allow him to enter.

They then tried to give Mr. Luo a COVID-19 vaccination. He said that he had a pre-existing condition and wasn’t eligible for the shot. They relented only after a doctor who came with them confirmed that Mr. Luo had high blood pressure and shouldn’t have the shot. Then the residential committee director promised to arrange a job for Mr. Luo’s daughter and that the job offered a pension plan. Knowing that there is no free lunch, Mr. Luo asked them if there was any condition. They said, “We would tell you after she starts work.” He thanked them and said she would prefer to find a job on her own.

Indicted

The Shunqing District Domestic Security Office submitted Ms. Liu’s case to the Shunqing District Procuratorate in September 2021. The residential committee directors and Shunqing District 610 Office director Qing Xing told her to meet them at a nearby teahouse on October 19. Ms. Liu went with her husband. The officers talked to them separately, attempting to pressure Ms. Liu into renouncing Falun Gong and having Mr. Luo persuade her. Both of them refused to comply.

The same group of directors and prosecutor Xiao Yihui talked to the couple again on November 24, still trying to force Ms. Liu to give up Falun Gong. Xiao Yihui said that, as long as Ms. Liu signed a renouncing statement, he would dismiss her case. Ms. Liu wasn’t swayed.

The officers talked to Mr. Luo separately and still tried to have him persuade both his wife and daughter to stop practicing Falun Gong. He said his daughter almost died of an illness, but she recovered after taking up Falun Gong. She is grateful to Falun Gong for saving her life and there was no way she would give it up.

Xiao later indicted Ms. Liu and moved her case to the Shunqing District Court.

Three Hearings

Ms. Liu appeared in court for the first time on April 19, 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her lawyer attended the session through an online platform and entered a not-guilty plea for her. The prosecutor was changed from Xiao to Chen Qin. No member of the public was allowed to attend the hearing, even though the court claimed it was open to the public.

At Ms. Liu’s second hearing on February 15, 2023, her husband represented her as a family defender and also entered a not-guilty plea for her.

A court clerk named Jiang Juan called Mr. Luo on March 16 and said another hearing of Ms. Liu’s case had been scheduled for the next afternoon. Mr. Luo was still preparing to defend his wife during the hearing, but as soon as the session started, judge Li Bo announced that Ms. Liu was sentenced to two years with a 3,000-yuan fine. The bailiff handcuffed Ms. Liu and took her to the Nanchong City Detention Center. She is still in the detention center, awaiting the result of her appeal.

Past Persecution

Ms. Liu began to practice Falun Gong in 1996. Many of her ailments, including low blood sugar, gastroptosis, and cervical bone hyperplasia, all disappeared.

Since the onset of the persecution, she has been repeatedly targeted for not giving up her faith. She was arrested and detained for 34 days for going to Beijing in September 1999 to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. She was later given another 15 days of detention in Nanchong.

Ms. Liu was given a one-year forced labor camp term in August 2000. Following another arrest in 2001, she was fined 4,300 yuan and had 10,000 yuan of her pension withheld. She was arrested a few more times in 2012, 2015, and 2017.

Related report:

80-year-old Retired Doctor Taken into Custody to Serve a Two-year Term for Practicing Falun Gong