(Minghui.org) A Quzhou County, Hebei Province, resident was recently sentenced to 3.5 years and another local is facing trial, both for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Wu Xuezhang, a 70-year-old farmer, was arrested on August 14, 2023, after being reported by Chen Zhen, the secretary of Chaozhai Village, for distributing Falun Gong materials there. The police raided Mr. Wu’s home and confiscated several Falun Gong books, one cellphone, a laptop, two printers, and over 10,000 yuan in cash.
The police took Mr. Wu to the Sitong Detention Center in Quzhou County the next day. The guards there initially declined to accept him due to his advanced age, but the police left him there and drove away. The detention center then admitted him.
Mr. Wu’s arrest was approved by the Quzhou County Procuratorate on August 29, 2024. His family wrote to the prosecutor on September 4, demanding them and the Quzhou County Police Department to uphold justice for him.
Mr. Wu’s lawyer visited him on September 28 and learned that the guards didn’t give him enough food. But he was in good spirits.
As Mr. Wu was the sole caregiver to his bedridden brother, his detention left his brother in a dire situation.
The Congtai District Court held a hearing of Mr. Wu’s case on July 11, 2024. Judge Ye announced the verdict in early September. Mr. Wu has appealed the sentence.
Ms. Qin Jingxiang, a 63-year-old elementary school teacher, was first harassed at home on the afternoon of February 12, 2023, by officers from the Quzhou County Domestic Security Division. They searched every room in her home, taking away two laptops, a printer, and 1,000 yuan in paper currency bearing printed information about Falun Gong (as a creative way to raise awareness about the persecution given the strict censorship in China). One female officer opened the drawer in her coffee table and kicked it.
Ms. Qin was stopped by four plainclothes officers on November 16, 2023, on her way back home after visiting a relative. When she refused to go with the police, they forced her to comply by threatening to carry her away. Upon hearing about her arrest, her family rushed to the police department in the afternoon to seek her release, but to no avail.
The police held Ms. Qin at the Handan City Third Detention Center. The Congtai District Procuratorate returned her case to the police several times for more evidence, before indicting her and moving her case to the Congtai District Court. She was scheduled to stand trial on October 15, 2024.
70-Year-Old Hebei Man Detained for Distributing Falun Gong Informational Materials