Reported in October 2024: 48 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith
(Minghui.org) According to information collected by Minghui.org, 48 Falun Gong practitioners were reported sentenced to prison in October 2024.
The newly confirmed cases include two that took place in 2023, 38 between January and October 2024, and 8 at an unknown time. With ever stricter information censorship under the Chinese Communist Party, many details about the practitioners’ indictments, trials, and sentences were difficult (if not impossible) to collect, which caused further delay in reporting.
The sentenced Falun Gong practitioners came from 15 provinces or centrally controlled municipalities. Shandong, Liaoning, and Hebei reported 9, 8, 7 cases, respectively. The remaining 12 regions had between 1 and 4 cases.
The practitioners’ terms ranged from 6 months to 7.5 years, with an average of 2 years and 7 months. Among the 20 practitioners whose ages were known at the time of sentencing, 7 were in their 50s, 5 in their 60s, 7 in their 70s, and 1 in her 80s. They came from all walks of life, including retired teachers, farmers, a cashier, and an elevator maintenance technician.
Having served three labor camp terms and two prison terms totalling 14 years, a former obstetrician, in her 70s, of Fuyang City, Anhui Province, was sentenced again to five years on an unknown date, following her arrest in July 2022. She was tortured until she was unable to walk. The fact that she is restricted to a liquid diet (because she has no teeth) makes her life in prison even harder.
A former teacher in Jingning County, Gansu Province, was handed down a term of three years and three months after being arrested in March 2023 for talking to pupils about Falun Gong outside a school. He previously served three years of forced labor between November 2000 and November 2003 and was fired from his job in December 2000. After another arrest in March 2005, he was given an unknown prison term. He was tortured almost to death and then released ahead of time. His wife struggled to care for their children and elderly parents while he was in custody. She developed rheumatism and was in pain all year long. She passed away at an unknown date.
A married couple in their 60s in Liquan County, Shaanxi Province, had been forced to live away from home since August 2022 to avoid police harassment. They were arrested in Xi’an City in the same province in April 2024 and sentenced to over three years in October 2024. The husband has been allowed to serve time at home, after he became incapacitated and incontinent due to abuse in custody.
The following are details of select sentencing cases. The full list of sentenced practitioners can be downloaded here (PDF).
Violation of Legal Procedures at Every Step of in the Judicial Process
Shandong Woman Loses Appeal Against a Two-Year Term
Ms. Fu Yanli, a 58-year-old Tai’an City, Shandong Province, woman was sentenced to two years on August 19, 2024. Her appeal was denied on September 25.
Ms. Fu, a former physician with the 14th Bureau of the Ministry of Railways in Tai’an, was fired for not renouncing Falun Gong and was also stripped of her retirement benefits. She made a living by renting out her property and running a clothing store. Her latest arrest took place on October 25, 2023. The Daiyue District Procuratorate indicted her on March 15, 2024, and moved her case to the Daiyue District Court.
When Ms. Fu appeared in court on August 6, 2024, after nearly ten months in custody, she appeared emaciated, very weak, and unable to walk on her own. When she sat down, the bailiff failed to provide enough support and she collapsed into the chair. The judge asked her how she felt. She responded that she felt very weak, dizzy, and nauseous.
The judge first asked Ms. Fu to describe her arrest. She said that someone approached her in the elevator of her apartment building on October 25, 2023, as she was returning home. He asked her if she was Fu Yanli. When she said she was, he pushed her against the elevator wall, and ten plainclothes officers showed up. They said nothing when she asked them who they were.
“Do you know that your printer and computer were seized from your home? Did you receive a list of confiscated items?” the judge asked her.
Ms. Fu replied that she had no idea what items were confiscated from her home, because she was put into a white car after her arrest and she wasn’t present during the raid. The police never gave her a list of confiscated items. She added that her cell phone, family car, and car key were impounded as well. She didn’t know what the police did to her cell phone or car or what evidence there was to charge her.
The judge next asked her to explain why she practiced Falun Gong. She recounted that she developed a severe kidney condition around 1990. She was allergic to antibiotics, and the doctors could do no more for her. Qigong was popular at that time, and many people enjoyed improved health from practicing it. The president of the hospital associated with her workplace recommended that she practice Falun Gong, so she gave it a try and found it very good. She has been practicing it ever since and her health indeed recovered.
When asked if she had anything to add, Ms. Fu said that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult in China. There was no mention of Falun Gong on the list of 14 cults published by the Public Security Bureau in 2000.
Ms. Fu’s lawyer said that the General Administration of Press and Publication issued Announcement 50 on March 1, 2011, repealing two notices banning the publication of Falun Gong books. It was thus totally legal for Ms. Fu to possess or distribute Falun Gong material publications, and she shouldn’t be charged for it.
The lawyer also pointed out several issues regarding the evidence against his client.
The first was the testimonies from two Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Wang Range and Ms. Cheng Guifeng, who were arrested in 2020 and 2021, respectively, for distributing calendars with information about Falun Gong. Ms. Wang was released after three months of detention and Ms. Cheng was sentenced to six months with one-year probation in May 2022. The prosecutor in charge of Ms. Fu’s case alleged that both Ms. Wang and Ms. Cheng, as well as their children, testified that the calendars they distributed were provided by Ms. Fu.
Ms. Fu’s lawyer pointed out that none of the witnesses appeared in court to be cross-examined, nor did the police or the prosecutor verify the accounts with them. As it’s commonly known that the police have been fabricating interrogation records to frame Falun Gong practitioners (including in Ms. Fu’s case), such unverified accounts couldn’t be used as valid prosecution evidence. On the other hand, if the calendars were indeed provided by Ms. Fu, why didn’t the police arrest her back then, but waited three years to file the case against her?
The prosecutor then presented testimony from a delivery driver, who remembered a woman in her 50s coming to his store twice to pick up two boxes of copy paper. The license plate number the driver recorded was the same as Ms. Fu’s.
Ms. Fu responded that it was completely normal for her to buy copy paper. She asked what prompted the driver to record her license plate. Her lawyer added that copy paper is not an illegal product and anyone can buy it. In addition, the delivery driver couldn’t confirm that it was Ms. Fu who picked up the paper and that it could be someone in her family who was driving her car and picking up the paper.
The prosecutor showed footage taken at night three years before with very low resolution, claiming that they recorded Ms. Fu distributing the materials. Ms. Fu’s lawyer said that the videos were very blurry and failed to clearly identify the person being recorded. He also said that if the calendars were indeed distributed by his client, the police should have been able to extract her fingerprints from them, but no such information was ever provided.
The prosecutor accused Ms. Fu of not signing the interrogation records or the list of confiscated items. Ms. Fu clarified that the police didn’t show her the list. The reason she didn’t sign the interrogation records was because what the police wrote down was not what she said, so of course, she couldn’t sign it.
In the end, Ms. Fu’s lawyer pointed out that while the prosecutor charged his client with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used by the Chinese courts to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners, he failed to show how Ms. Fu undermined which law’s enforcement. Furthermore, the prosecutor was unable to demonstrate what harm Ms. Fu might have caused to any individual or society at large by her practicing Falun Gong. Such law-abiding citizens shouldn’t be prosecuted simply for practicing their faith to be a good person and keep fit. The lawyer urged the judge to acquit Ms. Fu.
The judge adjourned the hearing at 12:30 p.m. and sentenced Ms. Fu two weeks later.
Two Inner Mongolia Residents Given Lengthy Prison Terms
It was confirmed by Minghui.org in October 2024 that two Yakeshi City, Inner Mongolia, men were sentenced to 7 and 7.5 years for their shared faith in Falun Gong.
Mr. Guo Changsuo was arrested during a police sweep on April 8, 2023, and Mr. Sun Wentian was arrested almost two weeks later on April 19. They were held in the Yakeshi City Detention Center and later indicted by the Yakeshi City Procuratorate. The Yakeshi City Court sentenced Mr. Guo to 7 years and Mr. Sun to 7.5 years on July 9, 2024. They appealed with the Hulunbuir Intermediate Court, which ordered a retrial.
During the retrial, Mr. Guo and Mr. Sun’s family defenders entered not guilty pleas for them. The practitioners also testified in their own defense. The judge didn’t interrupt their defense as is commonly done in hearings of Falun Gong practitioners.
After the retrial, the practitioners’ families also submitted letters to the judge, describing how Falun Gong is freely practiced around the world and the lack of any legal basis for the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The judge still upheld the sentences of both practitioners.
The practitioners appealed again. Presiding judge Miao Huanchun of the appeals court refused to hold an open hearing of the case, and ruled to uphold the verdicts on September 23, 2024, without informing the practitioners’ family defenders. When the family defenders found out about the sentencing and went to the court to inquire about the situation, they were surprised to be told that their representation of their loved ones had been suspended, yet the court refused to provide any supporting documents for the decision.
The families hired lawyers to visit the practitioners, only to discover that the appeals court had ordered the detention center to bar the practitioners’ lawyers from visiting them. The court also relayed the message to the lawyers that if the practitioners intended to file a motion to reconsider their case, they should submit their application to the prison, as the court itself was no longer in charge of it.
Sentenced for Raising Awareness about Falun Gong and the Persecution
Ms. Nie Jing, 50, of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison on October 11, 2024. The prosecutor accused her of making gourd pendants with information about Falun Gong at another practitioner’s home a year ago. He also accused her of shouting “Falun Dafa is good” when she was taken against her will to a hospital for a physical exam following her arrest on April 24, 2024.
During Ms. Nie’s hearing on October 9, 2024, her lawyer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. He argued that the prosecutor failed to present evidence to show how Ms. Nie’s practicing Falun Gong or making the pendants had caused any harm to any individual or society at large. No witnesses appeared in court for cross-examination either.
Judge Yang insisted that Ms. Nie could only answer “Yes” or “No” to his questions. When Ms. Nie recounted how her stomach and kidney conditions disappeared a month after she took up Falun Gong in 1997, Yang interrupted her and said, “Are you Chinese? Can’t you understand Chinese [i.e., the “yes-or-no” requirement]?”
Yang adjourned the hearing in an hour. He sentenced Ms. Nie to 4.5 years a day later.
This isn’t the first time that Ms. Nie has been targeted for her faith. Shortly after the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, she was given three years in the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. She was tied up and shocked with electric batons on her neck, chest, back, and feet. Her skin was burnt and she had excruciatingly painful blisters all over her body.
Ms. Nie was arrested again on September 24, 2019, and sentenced to 2.5 years with a 20,000-yuan fine on December 29, 2019.
Hebei Woman Sentenced to Four Years, Job Terminated
Ms. Zhao Hongmei, 51, of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, put up posters about Falun Gong on February 23, 2023, and was reported. By pouring over the footage taken by street surveillance cameras, the police identified her and arrested her outside her father’s home on March 8, 2023.
Ms. Zhao’s arrest devastated her father, who was in his 90s. His health quickly declined and he passed away in 2024, without seeing his daughter one last time.
The court later sentenced her to four years with a 5,000-yuan fine. Her sister wasn’t allowed to attend her hearing.
Following Ms. Zhao’s conviction, the court garnished 5,000 yuan from her bank account to pay the fine. Her employer, the local education agency, fired her.
53-Year-Old Jiangxi Woman Sentenced to 3.5 Years, Denied Family Visits Since Her Arrest in July 2023
Ms. Zhu Lanhui, 53, of Yushan County, Jiangxi Province, was arrested at home on July 13, 2023, by over ten agents from various agencies, including the Domestic Security Division, the 610 Office, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and the street committee. The police got a tip that someone had distributed Falun Gong flyers and identified her by searching footage taken by the surveillance cameras. Her computer was confiscated, though it was later returned.
Ms. Zhu held a hunger strike for over ten days and became very weak. She weighed only 66 pounds, so the detention center guards force-fed her milk and gave her IV fluids.
Her family spent over 10,000 yuan on a lawyer, but the lawyer entered a guilty plea for her. She was sentenced to three and a half years on an unknown date. Her family, who had never been allowed to see her in the detention center, only learned in October 2024 of her wrongful conviction and prison transfer, but was not told the exact dates of these events. They called the prison (exact name unknown) to ask to visit her, but were told that a meeting would be granted only after she renounced Falun Gong. An insider revealed that Ms. Zhu suffered from foot pain.
71-Year-Old Chongqing Woman Sentenced to 1.5 Years
Ms. Yang Li, 71, of Chongqing was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong outside a community market in early February 2024. The police called her husband on the morning of February 8 and ordered him to tell her to report to them at 2 that afternoon.
Ms. Yang went to the police station and gave the officers a leaflet about Falun Gong, hoping they would learn the facts about the persecution. Instead of reading it, the police put the leaflet in a plastic bag and said it was “evidence” that she broke the law. They also searched her and confiscated four amulets with Falun Gong messages and several banknotes with Falun Gong messages printed on them. (Because the communist regime blocks all legal channels for practitioners to appeal for their right to practice their faith, they use creative ways to spread messages about Falun Gong.)
The police took Ms. Yang to the Jiangbei District Police Department and held her there overnight. The next morning they had her undergo a physical exam, and she was found to be unfit for detention. The police still took her to the local detention center that afternoon. She had high blood pressure and was denied admission.
The police eventually released Ms. Yang that night. She learned from her husband that the police had raided their home while she was in detention. They confiscated her Falun Gong books, more than ten copies of Falun Gong materials, and lists of people who renounced their memberships in the Chinese Communist Party because it persecuted Falun Gong.
The police ordered Ms. Yang to report to them any time she was summoned. They also warned her not to go out and talk to people about Falun Gong again. They ordered her to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. It’s unclear if she complied. They later submitted Ms. Yang’s case to the Jiangbei District Procuratorate and prosecutor Liu Jie indicted her for “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong. Judge Wang Guoping of the Jiangbei District Court was assigned to her case.
Ms. Yang appeared in the Jiangbei District Court on August 14, 2024, and was placed on house arrest afterwards. Presiding judge Wang Guoping announced her verdict on September 30, adding three months to the 15-month term recommended by the prosecutor.
This is not the first time Ms. Yang, a retired factory worker, has been targeted for her faith. She was previously detained at least six other times (three times in brainwashing centers, once in a detention center, and twice in a lockup). She was sentenced to four years on November 13, 2013, and released from the Chongqing Women’s Prison on January 10, 2017. The police continued to harass her after she was released.
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