(Minghui.org) After serving five labor camp terms totaling ten years, Ms. Lang Dongyue from Beijing was recently sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 15,000 yuan for practicing her faith, Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline also known as Falun Dafa that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Lang Dongyue was arrested in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province on December 14, 2021, two years after she was forced to live away from home to avoid the persecution. The police put her in criminal detention at the Zhangjiakou City Detention Center and submitted the case against her to the Xuanhua District Procuratorate in Zhangjiakou.
Despite their financial difficulties Ms. Lang’s husband, Mr. Wang Lianyi, hired a lawyer for her. Due to the mental strain from the persecution, he collapsed on the street on April 24, 2022 when he noticed two police cars parked in front of the law firm he was about to visit. After he calmed down he and a friend walked into the law firm. He suddenly dropped dead in his front yard the next day.
The Xuanhua District Court held a hearing on Ms. Lang’s case on March 8, 2023. Judge Zhang Yuewu (+86-17703138633) asked her whether what prosecutor Wu Hongfeng said about her past five forced labor terms was true.
Ms. Lang knew that Zhang was hoping to hear a resounding yes so he could use it as evidence that she was a repeat offender as alleged by prosecutor Wu. Instead of directly answering the question, she replied, “I didn’t break any law by trying to be a good and a better person. All five forced labor terms given to me for practicing Falun Gong had no legal basis and were wrong. Those who meted out those punishments broke the law, not me.”
Ms. Lang’s lawyer echoed her statements and defended her innocence. Unable to refute the defense statements, judge Zhang adjourned the session and said he would resume the trial on March 28, 2023. It is unclear whether a second hearing was ever held.
It was recently learned that Zhang sentenced Ms. Lang to nine years and fined her 15,000 yuan. The exact date of her sentencing is being investigated. Ms. Lang filed an appeal.
Past Persecution
Ms. Lang began practicing Falun Gong in June 1998 and she credits the practice for resolving her asthma and ringworm. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was given five labor camp terms, including four terms in the Beijing Women’s Forced Labor Camp and one term in the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Liaoning Province.
While in custody, Ms. Lang was constantly beaten, shocked with electric batons, and hung up by the wrists. The inmates tortured her while they force-fed her. They once stripped off her clothes, pressed her against the wet concrete floor, covered her eyes, pried open her mouth and force-fed her. Sometimes she was force-fed cold water mixed with unknown drugs. Several of her teeth were knocked out during the force-feeding sessions.
In addition to force-feeding her, the inmates also starved her and forbade her from drinking water, in order to torture her. Sometimes she was not allowed to use the restroom or not allowed to sleep. As soon as she fell asleep, the inmates poured cold water on her.
The inmates once hit her chest so hard she nearly suffocated. Sometimes they stomped on her while wearing high heels. In another torture, they forced her to walk around while wearing shoes much smaller than her feet.
The inmates also sexually assaulted Ms. Lang by prodding her genitals with the handle of fly swatter or toothbrush. She was unable to walk afterwards.
Because Ms. Lang shouted “Falun Dafa is good” to protest the persecution, the guards forced the inmates to take off her pants, tear off the sanitary pad she was wearing, and stuff it into her mouth. When she continued to resist the persecution, the guards found a used sanitary pad in the restroom and stuffed it into her mouth. When blood seeped from her mouth, the guards pulled her head backward to prevent the blood from coming out.
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