(Minghui.org) It was recently learned that a Suning County, Hebei Province, resident had been sentenced to a three-year prison term for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The judge presiding over Ms. He Xiaoyan’s trial notified her father on February 27, 2024 to pick up her verdict. Her father asked what the verdict was but was not told any details over the phone. He then called his daughter’s lawyer, who said that Ms. He had been sentenced to three years.
Ms. He’s father received another call on February 29, 2024 reminding him to pick up his daughter’s verdict at the Renqiu City Court. He said that he was not going to do so because his daughter had been wrongly convicted for practicing Falun Gong.
It is unclear whether Ms. He is still being held at the Cangzhou City Detention Center at the time of this writing. Cangzhou oversees Suning County, while the Renqiu City Procuratorate and the Renqiu City Court have been designated to handle all Falun Gong cases in Suning County and three nearby counties.
Court Hearing on November 8, 2023
Ms. He stood trial at the Renqiu City Court on November 8, 2023. She and her lawyer testified against the police for raiding her home without a search warrant and fabricating evidence against her. Her father, who served as her non-lawyer defender, showed his medical records showing that an egg-sized tumor that had been on his neck for 40 years disappeared without medical treatment after he took up Falun Gong. He said that his personal experience was a testament to Falun Gong’s miraculous healing power.
Ms. He’s father emphasized that Falun Gong brings nothing but benefits to those who practice it. His daughter was merely practicing Falun Gong for its health benefits like him, and should never have been prosecuted for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
The presiding judge at the Renqiu City Court kept interrupting Ms. He’s defense statement, but she managed to finish her speech and remind everyone present that Falun Gong has spread far and wide to the world and is only being persecuted in its birthplace of China. She demanded her acquittal so she could be reunited with her two young children, husband, parents-in-law, and widowed father.
The judge did not announce the verdict at the end of the trial.
Arrested in 2020 and Released on Bail
Ms. He’s trial stemmed from her arrest at her family-owned computer shop at around 2 p.m. on July 24, 2020. Then vice captain Wang Zhiyuan of the Suning County Domestic Security Office and a few of his officers took Ms. He to their office and interrogated her for three straight days. She refused to answer their questions or sign their interrogation records. She also went on a hunger strike during the three-day marathon interrogation.
The police raided Ms. He’s computer shop and home about three hours after her arrest. They confiscated her driver’s license, ID, laptop computer, laminator, and more than 4,000 yuan in banknotes printed with Falun Gong messages (as a way to raise awareness of the persecution). Her car was also impounded.
The police took Ms. He to the Suning County Hospital for a physical examination and a COVID-19 test on July 27, 2020. They released her on house arrest that afternoon.
On the Run to Avoid Being Indicted
The police submitted the case against Ms. He to the Renqiu City Procuratorate on January 6, 2021. That same day, officer Zhang Lei and a few staffers from the Suning County Procuratorate took her to the Renqiu City Procuratorate to process some paperwork. The computer system happened to be down when they got there, so Ms. He was driven back home without getting anything done. Officer Zhang asked her to go to the Renqiu City Procuratorate by herself two days later.
The Renqiu City Procuratorate called Ms. He’s husband asking her to report to them on January 8, 2021. In order to avoid being indicted, Ms. He lived away from home. The Renqiu City Police Department then issued an arrest warrant against her.
The Suning County Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extra-judicial agency tasked with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong, and the Suning County Domestic Security Office, broke into Ms. He’s home many times to see whether she had come back.
Taken Back Into Custody in April 2023 While Caring for Ill Mother-in-law in Hospital
Ms. He later returned home upon learning that her mother-in-law had become sick and hospitalized. She was arrested late at night on April 30, 2023, while caring for her mother-in-law in the hospital. She was taken to the Cangzhou City Detention Center, and it is unclear whether she is still being held there after her sentencing in early 2024.
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