(Minghui.org) The Cangzhou City Intermediate Court in Hebei Province ruled on June 27, 2024, to uphold the guilty verdicts of four locals for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Judge Zhang Jian (+86-317-2204518) signed the appeals ruling.
Ms. Liu Zaiyun and Mr. Hou Shuyuan were each sentenced to three years and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Su Chunfeng and Ms. Hu Xiumei were each given two and a half years and fined 5,000 yuan. Before convicting them on April 17, 2024, judge Liu Zhongcheng of the Yunhe District Court admitted to the defense lawyers in private that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the four practitioners for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of belief. He, however, still ruled against them under pressure, and so did the appeals judge two months later.
Mr. Hou, Ms. Liu, and Ms. Hu have remained in detention since their arrests on January 11, 2022. Ms. Su, who was arrested on the same day, was released on bail three days later but was taken back into custody on July 13, 2023, despite being deemed unfit for detention. Her health has since further declined. According to an insider, she is now seriously ill. She requires the use of a urinary catheter and struggles to take care of herself. The detention center never notified her family of her condition.
Arrests and Indictment
All four practitioners were arrested on January 11, 2022. Ms. Su was released on bail three days after her arrest due to health reasons. She was taken back into custody on July 12, 2023, and held at the Cangzhou City Detention Center with the other three practitioners.
Gao Fusong of the Xinhua District Domestic Security Division, who arrested the practitioners, submitted their joint case to the Xinhua District Procuratorate in early April 2022. The case was transferred to the Yunhe District Procuratorate on May 14, 2022. Prosecutor Kong Lingxia at the Yunhe District Procuratorate returned the case twice to the police citing insufficient evidence. In their attempt to fabricate evidence against the four practitioners, the police installed surveillance devices on their motorcycles and harassed their family members and co-workers.
The practitioners’ lawyers wrote to various government agencies on July 13 and 14, 2022, urging the authorities to release them. They argued that the practitioners’ spiritual belief is protected by China’s constitution and that the practitioners did not harm anyone or society by distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Prosecutor Kong still indicted the four practitioners on October 26, 2022, after the police resubmitted the case.
Trial
The Yunhe District Court heard the case on December 21, 2023, but barred the practitioners’ families from attending the trial. The authorities also arranged a large police force to guard the courthouse during the hearing. Dozens of police cruisers were seen parked along the 1.2-mile-long road near the court. Police also patrolled outside, videotaped the cars that drove by and questioned pedestrians.
All four practitioners’ lawyers, including Ms. Su’s court-appointed lawyer, entered not guilty plea for them. The practitioners also maintained that they didn’t violate any law by practicing their faith. Prosecutors Kong, Li Hejia and Li Chuanhe strongly defended their decision to charge the practitioners, but they also admitted that the police-provided evidence was weak. The presiding judge, Liu Zhongcheng, frequently interrupted the practitioners and their lawyers as they tried to clarify the facts about Falun Gong. Judge Fu Rao was also present at the hearing.
Judge Liu later admitted to the defense lawyers in private that there was indeed no legal basis to prosecute the four practitioners. Nonetheless, he still followed the high-ups’ orders and convicted the practitioners on April 17, 2024.
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