(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhao Qingping, 52, from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was admitted to Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on June 28, 2023, to serve a six-year term for practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhao is a former pharmaceutical company production director and began practicing Falun Gong in 1997. She stopped after the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute the spiritual practice in July 1999, but resumed in 2003.
Ms. Zhao and her mother-in-law were arrested at her home around 8 p.m. on July 19, 2022. Her mother-in-law was followed by the police when she distributed informational materials about Falun Gong.
The police raided Ms. Zhao’s home and confiscated over 50 Falun Gong books, three framed photos of Falun Gong’s founder, two computers, two printers, two media players, four cellphones, over 30 flash drives with information about Falun Gong, 3,000 yuan in cash with information about Falun Gong printed on the bills (one way practitioners use to overcome the strict censorship in China), as well as the 370,000 yuan that she had just withdrawn from the bank for her child to buy a house.
The police ignored the family when they went to the police station to demand the money be returned. But the family persisted and the police returned the 370,000 yuan in late 2022.
Ms. Zhao’s mother-in-law was released the day after she was arrested but Ms. Zhao was put in criminal detention and taken to the Harbin City No. 2 Detention Center. Her family hired a lawyer to represent her and he visited her in late August.
Ms. Zhao stood trial at the Acheng District Court on March 13, 2023. Her lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for her. He argued that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China and that she did not violate any law by having Falun Gong books in her home.
The judge sentenced Ms. Zhao to six years with a 20,000-yuan fine around mid-April. Her appeal was soon rejected by the Harbin City Intermediate Court, and she was transferred to prison on June 28, 2023.
Related Reports:
Former Pharmaceutical Company Production Director Sentenced to Six Years for Practicing Falun Gong
Woman and Her Mother-in-law Arrested for Their Faith, 370K Yuan Confiscated during Home Raid
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