(Minghui.org) An 83-year-old woman in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, is facing trial for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Wang Fengying’s ordeal stemmed from an incident that happened at around 4 p.m. on June 14, 2023. She and Ms. Hong Guifang, around 63, were talking to people about Falun Gong when several sales associates who worked on nearby new building projects overheard them. They surrounded the two women, and one of them, a young man, grabbed Ms. Wang’s collar so tightly that she could barely breathe. Onlookers condemned the salespeople but the young man still called the police.
A police car took Ms. Wang and Ms. Hong to the Xincheng Police Station in Nanchang County, which is under the administration in Nanchang City. They were interrogated for most of the night and taken to the Liantang Town Hospital for physical exams the next morning. Ms. Wang’s systolic blood pressure was over 200 mmHg (normal range is 120 or lower), so she was released in the afternoon. The police raided her home before she left. They confiscated one copy of Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Gong, and ripped off the decorative couplets she had on her door.
Ms. Hong was released on bail on June 30, 2023, after 15 days of detention in the Guashan Detention Center. Her case status is unclear.
In early December 2024, three people from an unknown agency showed up at Ms. Wang’s door and notified her that prosecutor Song Hongyang of the Xihu District Procuratorate in Nanchang City had indicted her. They attempted to take her back into custody to await trial, but she refused to go and they left.
Ms. Wang later picked up a copy of her indictment from the Xihu District Court. She tried several times but was unable to see prosecutor Song in person. She then submitted a request to his assistant, demanding that Song drop her indictment. She argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it a cult and that the indictment failed to specify which law she allegedly broke to cause what harm to which people.
Song scheduled a meeting with Ms. Wang shortly after. He directed her to contact captain Yang of the Nanchang County Domestic Security Division instead, because it was Yang who ordered the indictment. Ms. Wang said Song was still responsible for charging her because he was the one who had signed the indictment. She urged him to return the case to Yang.
A few days later, a woman called Ms. Wang and said she was a court-appointed lawyer. Ms. Wang declined to use her but still went to her office to explain the lack of legal basis for her prosecution.
Judge Liu Yufang of the Xihu District Court called Ms. Wang’s daughter to say a court date had been set for a Thursday (exact date unknown). The next day, three people showed up at Ms. Wang’s home and called judge Liu, who still said Ms. Wang had to stand trial on the set date. The three people took a picture of her written request to drop the indictment, which she had earlier submitted to prosecutor Song.
In mid-December 2024, Ms. Wang delivered two letters to the chief prosecutor and appeals division of the Xihu District Procuratorate. The receptionist opened both letters, said they were identical, and only took the one addressed to the chief prosecutor.
Ms. Wang also delivered three documents to the Xihu District Court. The first one requested an open hearing. The second requested a postponement of her court date, since prosecutor Song had never notified her of the indictment before he forwarded the case to the court. Additionally, she was still awaiting a response to her request to drop the indictment. The third document requested that judge Liu be recused from the trial, because she set a court date when there was no legal basis to indict Ms. Wang in the first place.
Hours after Ms. Wang submitted the requests, judge Liu called her to say that she wanted to have a conversation with her “next Thursday” (again, exact date unknown). Not long after, Ms. Wang got another call from a court employee reminding her of the same court date. It is unclear whether she received a response to her three requests.
Related Reports:
Widowed 79-year-old Woman Faces Financial Devastation After Serving Time for Her Faith
78-Year-Old Retiree’s Pension Garnished After Three-year Imprisonment
Jiangxi Woman, 76, Sentenced to Three Years for Her Belief
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