(Minghui.org) Minghui.org previously reported on the four-year prison sentence of Ms. Gu Chunying, a 60-year-old resident in Yanshou County, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. As new info was received, below is a more complete report of Ms. Gu’s persecution for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Gu, a widowed forest worker, talked to a boy about Falun Gong around mid-July 2023. After the boy’s parents found out about it, they reported Ms. Gu to the police. She was arrested at home on July 19, 2023, by Liu Fengjun, Zheng Dianwen, and Du Yongmei of the Chengbei Police Station in Yanshou County.
Ms. Gu’s family hired an out-of-town lawyer for her on December 20, 2023. The lawyer arrived in Harbin at night four days later. He and Ms. Gu’s family went to the Acheng District Procuratorate in Harbin City the next morning (December 25) and signed official paperwork to represent Ms. Gu. The lawyer next visited her at the Harbin City Second Detention Center in the afternoon.
Prosecutor Li Qian (+86-451-51087019, +86-451-51087028) of the Acheng District Procuratorate called Ms. Gu’s lawyer on December 27, 2023, saying that she had indicted Ms. Gu that day and moved her case to the Acheng District Court. In addition to charging her with talking to the boy about Falun Gong, Li also cited her other arrest by the Chengjiao Police Station in Yanshou County on July 21, 2022, for raising awareness about the persecution. To avoid implicating her daughter, she turned in her two Falun Gong books to the police when they came to raid her home. The police gave her five days of administrative detention for “possessing Falun Gong books” and “practicing Falun Gong.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic control measures, she was exempted from serving the detention term in 2022 and released.
Ms. Gu’s lawyer was notified on January 16, 2024, that her court date was set for 9 a.m. on January 23 and that the procuratorate had recommended four years of prison sentence against her.
The lawyer went to the Acheng City Court on the scheduled date but did not see his client. Only then did the court say that it was actually a virtual hearing. He learned later that Ms. Gu was deceived into agreeing to have a virtual meeting without being allowed to consult with him first.
The court notified the lawyer on February 4, 2024, that Ms. Gu had been sentenced to four years in prison. Judges Liu Weiwei (+86-451-51090047), Wang Jinrong, and Chen Yanchun, court clerk Zhao Hui, and prosecutor Lyu Ying signed the verdict.
In addition to her arrests in 2022 and 2023, Ms. Gu was arrested in 2001 for appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong in Beijing. She was detained at the Harbin’s Liaison Office in Beijing for five days. After she was taken back to Harbin by local police chief Li Xifu, she was detained for another 15 days and extorted 6,000 yuan.
Related report:
Heilongjiang Woman Sentenced to Four Years for Talking to a Boy About Falun Gong
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