(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old resident of Yinchuan City, Ningxia Autonomous Region, was sentenced to two years and fined 10,000 yuan on July 4, 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Ms. Xin Linyuan is currently appealing the wrongful conviction.
Ms. Xin’s sentence stemmed from her initial arrest on May 15, 2022. The former accountant at the Ningguang Electrical Co., Ltd. was soon released on bail, only to be taken back into custody on February 21, 2024. She has since been held at the Shizuishan City Detention Center.
The Dawukou District Court in Shizuishan City heard Ms. Xin’s case on June 6, 2024 and sentenced her on July 4. The ruling bore the signatures of presiding judge Wang Yu, judges Liang Zongquan and Song Cuiping, clerk Zhou Haibin, and prosecutor Zhang Zhaowa of the Dawukou District Procuratorate.
Ms. Xin’s 77-year-old husband Mr. Chen Jianguo, who served as her non-lawyer defender during her trial, received a copy of her verdict days after her conviction. He noted that the verdict cited three pieces of prosecution evidence as the basis for his wife’s prison sentence.
The first piece of evidence stated that Ms. Xin promoted Falun Gong, but there was no supporting evidence included in the verdict. No law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. Even if Ms. Xin promoted Falun Gong, she would be within her right to do so.
The second piece of evidence included items allegedly confiscated from Ms. Xin’s home, including a printer, flash drives, MP3 players, and paper currency printed with Falun Gong messages. However, the list of confiscated items attached to the verdict failed to give detailed descriptions of each item and identify the source of it as required by law. Without the required information, any similar items (such as flash drives) could have been included as prosecution evidence against Ms. Xin.
The third piece of evidence was a “fact” that Ms. Xin provided Falun Gong informational materials multiple times to another local practitioner, Ms. Li Zhixiang, who was later sentenced to three and a half years and sent to the Ningxia Women’s Prison in July 2023 after losing her appeal.
The police stated themselves in the interrogation record of Ms. Li and Ms. Xin that the two women never knew each other to begin with, even though they are both Falun Gong practitioners. Despite this, the police still claimed that Ms. Li went to Ms. Xin’s home three times to pick up Falun Gong materials. The “three times” then became “multiple times” in the indictment and the verdict. By law, the descriptions of alleged crimes should be accurate and consistent. “Three” and “multiple” do not mean the same frequency.
The verdict also stated two versions of how the authorities found out that “Ms. Li picked up Falun Gong materials from Ms. Xin’s home.” One version was an account by officer Liu Pengfei from the Dawukou District Police Department. Liu said the police followed Ms. Li to Ms. Xin’s home and discovered that the former obtained Falun Gong materials from the latter. Another version stated that still images from surveillance videos captured Ms. Li showing up at Ms. Xin’s home to pick up Falun Gong materials.
Theoretically speaking, both versions could be true (meaning that the police followed Ms. Li to Ms. Xin’s home and surveillance cameras also recorded the former showing up at the latter’s home). However, the verdict gave the impression that it was an “either...or” situation. Again by law the descriptions of the same event should be consistent and accurate. Of course, this was just about discussing the legal procedure. When it came to the facts, we should not forget that Ms. Li never went to Ms. Xin’s home because they did not know each other.
Besides the above rebuttals that Ms. Xin’s husband made to the allegations in the verdict, he and the defense lawyer also highlighted the following during her trial.
Ms. Xin’s family and friends (except her husband) were blocked from entering the courthouse and her lawyer protested the bailiff’s illegal behavior. The bailiff asked for instructions from their supervisors and eventually eight of Ms. Xin’s family members and friends were allowed to go inside.
Ms. Xin’s lawyer further testified against the police for failing to follow the legal procedures in arresting her. They did not show any search warrant while raiding her home, nor did they let her verify the confiscated items or give her a copy of the list as required by law.
Mr. Chen testified against prosecutor Zhang for having the following factual mistakes in the indictment:
- Ms. Xin’s associate’s degree was misstated as vocational high school diploma.- The police submitted the case to the procuratorate on March 4, 2024, but the date was written as March 8, 2023 in the indictment.- Ms. Xin was arrested on August 12, 2011 for her faith in Falun Gong and soon released unconditionally. Prosecutor Zhang, however, listed the arrest as proof that Ms. Xin was put on administrative detention in 2011, even after he acknowledged there was no official record at all of such “administrative detention.”
Related Reports:
70-Year-Old Ningxia Woman Detained Again for Practicing Falun Gong
70-Year-Old Ningxia Woman Denied Bail and Right to Have Family Defender Review Case
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