(Minghui.org) Ms. Wei Chunrong, 72, from Qingdao City, Shandong Province, was sentenced to three and a half years and fined 10,000-yuan on January 11, 2024, for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The verdict bore the seal of the Jimo District Court in Qingdao City and was dated January 11, 2023, a glaring mistake the court did not notice. When she received the verdict, Ms. Wei immediately said she would file an appeal.
Ms. Wei, from Huanan County, Heilongjiang Province, has been living with her son’s family in Qingdao City since 2013. Her latest prison sentence stemmed from her arrest on March 2, 2023, after a food delivery worker reported her for talking to him about Falun Gong. The arresting officers from the Zhengyang Road Police Station raided her son’s home and confiscated her six Falun Gong books, five memory cards, three music players, and an e-reader.
The police took Ms. Wei to the Jimo District Second Detention Center in Qingdao City. On May 8, 2023, they submitted her case to the Chengyang District Procuratorate. That procuratorate was instructed by the Qingdao City Procuratorate to transfer the case to the Jimo District Procuratorate, which has been designated to handle Falun Gong cases in the region.
The Jimo District Procuratorate received the case on June 6 and indicted Ms. Wei on July 5. The Jimo District Court held a hearing of her case at the detention center on October 12, 2023. Judge Jiang Bing (+86-532-85559875, +86-532-85559810, +86-532-85559880) presided over the trial. Judges Zhou Yuying and Wang Junwei, clerk Wan Xin, as well as prosecutor Wang Bing (+86-18506395606) were also present.
While there is no report of the trial details, the verdict issued by the Jimo District Court revealed the prosecution evidence against Ms. Wei.
The verdict mentioned two prosecution witnesses – food delivery worker Chu Jiajia from the Meituan Takeout and his manager Yu Xiangqian – even though Ms. Wei only spoke with Chu. The verdict also cited a branch of Meituan Takeout in Chengyang District as the location where Ms. Wei talked to Chu about Falun Gong. However, there was no such branch at the said location.
Other prosecution evidence included 2,242 Falun Gong-related audio and video files found on the five memory cards confiscated from Ms. Wei’s home. Prosecutor Wang accused Ms. Wei of trying to recruit Chu into the “Falun Gong organization” and of being a repeat offender (she was previously twice sentenced for her faith). The verdict also stated that Ms. Wei’s talking to Chu about Falun Gong was “authenticated” as cult propaganda even though no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult.
Two Prior Prison Sentences
This is not the first time that Ms. Wei has been targeted by the police in Qingdao City. She was arrested by the Chengyang District Domestic Security Office in August 2013 and detained for ten days.
Officers from a police station in Chengyang District arrested Ms. Wei on October 25, 2015 and the Chengyang District Court sentenced her to two years in prison on January 23, 2017.
Ms. Wei was arrested again on May 4, 2018, barely six months after she was released from prison. The Jimo District Court sentenced her to three years and four months in January 2019. She was released in September 2021, only to be arrested again in March 2023 and given a third prison sentence.
Related Report:
Twice Jailed Woman, 72, Faces Prison Sentence Again for Her Faith in Falun Gong
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