(Minghui.org) Two residents of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, were recently indicted for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Zhang Jinman, 68, and Ms. Wang Songxia, an 84-year-old retired physician of the Baoji City Central Hospital, were arrested on May 8, 2022, while they were exchanging Falun Gong informational materials outside the east gate of the hospital.
The arresting officers were from the Jiangtan Road Police Station. According to an insider, the police had tapped the two Falun Gong practitioners’ phones and learned about their plan to meet outside the hospital.
Ms. Wang was released on bail the next day but faced constant harassment at home by the Jiangtan Road Police Station. Mr. Zhang was held at the Qianyang County Detention Center for 15 days before being released on bail.
On September 13, 2022, the police station delivered to both Ms. Wang and Mr. Zhang a “Notice of Transferring Case Files for Prosecution” and said that their cases had been submitted to the Weibin District Procuratorate. The hospital is located in the Weibin District.
Someone from the Jintai District Procuratorate showed up at Ms. Wang’s home in May 2023 to ask questions and inform her that the Jintai District has been designated to handle all Falun Gong cases in the four districts of Baoji City and that Qishan County is to handle all cases in the eight counties under the administration of Baoji. He said the Jintai District Procuratorate would now handle her case and Mr. Zhang’s.
The Jintai District Procuratorate indicated Ms. Wang and Mr. Zhang. On July 3, Ms. Wang received a copy of the indictment, which was signed by prosecutor Wang Lei and assistant prosecutor Zhong Pei. Ms. Wang actually had talked to prosecutor Wang before and urged the latter to not indict her and Mr. Zhang. Prosecutor Wang still filed charges against them.
The indictment noted that her court date was set for July 13. It is unclear whether the hearing was held as scheduled.
Ms. Wang Once Given 7 Years in Prison with 7 Years Probation
Ms. Wang took up Falun Gong in 1998 and soon recovered from her many ailments. She also gained a new outlook on life and learned to live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. After the persecution began a year later, she was repeatedly harassed and arrested for upholding her faith.
Once the Jiangtan Road Police Station and Jiangtan Road Committee held her in a vacant house for an unknown period of time after discovering she had passed galonan article written by Falun Gong’s founder to another practitioner. They ordered her to renounce Falun Gong but she firmly refused to do so.
Ms. Wang was arrested by the Weibin District 610 Office and Weibin District Police Department in July 2009, after they found out she and a few other practitioners had been making Falun Gong informational materials. They held her at Lingyun Hotel, where they had set up a brainwashing session. They forced her to sit in an iron chair and deprived her of sleep for extended periods of time. In about three weeks, she developed severe symptoms of a stroke and heart disease. She had trouble breathing and couldn’t walk. Only then did the police release her on bail.
Ms. Wang appeared in court on February 8, 2010, and was later sentenced to seven years in prison with seven years probation.
Jiangtan Road Police Station officers arrested Ms. Wang and six other practitioners at around 2 p.m. on May 8, 2018, while they were studying Falun Gong teachings together at a private home. The police said a neighbor had reported them for having a gathering. Ms. Wang was interrogated at the police station and released right before midnight.
Mr. Zhang Once Held in Detention Center for 16 Days
In early July 2015, the Baoji City Political and Legal Affairs Committee (an extra-judicial agency tasked with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong) directed police to arrest several local practitioners. Mr. Zhang was arrested on July 9 and held at the Baoji City Detention Center until July 25.
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