(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Feng Xiumei from Dawa County, Liaoning Province was transferred to the No. 3 Division of Liaoning Province Women's Prison from the Panjin City Detention Center on January 13, 2015.
While visiting her recently, her family members saw that her hair had turned gray and she seemed to have aged by 10 years in two months. She wore only shorts and a tank top. She told her family that the guards had taken her clothes despite it being very cold in the Northeast for the past two months. She also said she was forbidden to buy clothes in the prison store because there was no place to hang them.
Based on her current situation and the fact that she had been diagnosed with a heart attack and high blood pressure a while back, her family requested that she be released on medical parole. However, the team leader said that her problems were age-related and did not appear life-threatening. Medical parole was not approved.
Multiple Detentions for Practicing Falun Gong
Liu Zhanjun of Tianzhuangtai Township in Dawa County reported Ms. Feng, his neighbor, to police on August 21, 2013. Li Binzhu, deputy director of the local police station, and Fu Zhengguo of the Dawa Domestic Security Division broke into Ms. Feng's home and arrested her. They ransacked her home and confiscated her computers, phones, about 10,000 yuan, her bank book, payroll card, identification card and other personal items.
Ms. Feng was tried three times by the Dawa Court for practicing Falun Gong. She was sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment.
She filed an appeal twice at the Panjin Intermediate Court, with the first one on November 13, 2014. The presiding judge was Wen Yang at both trials.When brought in for the first appeal, her feet were shackled and she was handcuffed. She pleaded innocent.
Judge Wen Yang asked Ms. Feng's attorney Jiang Tianyong, if he would “challenge the use of jurors or judge.” Jiang requested that two of the jurors be excused from the trial due to their affiliations and bias. In response, Wen had attorney Jiang removed from the court room.
Judge Wen asked Ms. Feng's daughter on November 24, 2014, to come to the court and pick up the verdict document.
Jiang told Ms. Feng's daughter that judge Wen asked her mother to withdraw her appeal. Since Ms. Feng refused, the judge upheld the original verdict of 3.5 years in prison.
