Sichuan Woman Sentenced to 4.5 Years for Raising Awareness about the Persecution of Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A Nanchong City, Sichuan Province resident was recently sentenced to 4.5 years for raising awareness about the persecution of her faith in Falun Gong. 

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Jing Huiling, 49, a former bank employee, was arrested on March 25, 2019, for talking to a few students on a bus about the persecution of Falun Gong. 

Meng Changjun, the head of the local Domestic Security Office, submitted her case to the procuratorate, which then indicted her and moved her case to the court. Because Ms. Jing refused to answer Meng’s question during the interrogation, Meng threatened to persecute her to death.

The main prosecution evidence submitted by the police was Ms. Jing’s cellphone. However, while extracting information from the cellphone and transporting it, the police didn’t follow the legal procedure of videotaping the process or other necessary steps to prevent anyone from manipulating the device.

Ms. Jing appeared twice in the Nanbu County Court, on November 7 and 28, 2019, respectively. She questioned the validity of the prosecution's evidence. She said her cellphone did not have a SIM card or records of phone conversations, but the police claimed to have obtained the records by using some technical means. They presented dozens of pages of “phone conversations,” which contained randomly generated phone numbers without any recipients' names. 

The prosecutor Chai Ying couldn't offer an explanation. She was also unable to answer Ms. Jing when she asked how her handing out a few flash-drives and making a few phone calls could undermine law enforcement, as indicated by the charge against her. Chai, however, still demanded the judge give Ms. Jing a heavy term for her not “regretting the wrongdoing.”

Ms. Jing’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. He argued that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong in China. The prosecutor couldn’t refute him either, but blamed him for spreading inappropriate remarks in court and promoting Falun Gong.

Ms. Jing was later sentenced to 4.5 years. She was recently transferred from the Nanchong City No.1 Detention Center to the Chengdu Women’s Prison.

Past Persecution

Ms. Jing took up Falun Gong in 1996. She credits the practice for improving her temper and turning her into a better person.

After the persecution started in 1999, she was given two labor camp terms and fired from her workplace. The police constantly ransacked her home and harassed her. 

Several times after Ms. Jing managed to find a job, the police harassed her employer and forced them to fire her. She later started a small business to make a living, only to be arrested and sentenced again.

Two Labor Camp Terms

Ms. Jing was first arrested in June 2000 for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was given one year at the Nanmusi Women’s Forced Labor Camp. 

Because of her not giving up Falun Gong, the authorities rescinded an award to her employer, the Nanbu County Agricultural Bank, which was also pressured to fire her. 

Ms. Jing was arrested again on October 17, 2001, for distributing Falun Gong materials and given another 1.5 years of a labor camp term.

She was arrested one more time on May 16, 2011, and held at the Nanchong City Brainwashing Center for over three months, during which time she was forced to watch propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong. The guards threatened to give her another labor camp term in an attempt to pressure her to renounce her faith.

1.5-year Prison Term

Ms. Jing was deceived by the police into opening her door on June 21, 2016. The officers searched her place and arrested her upon seeing Falun Gong books at her home. Her cellphone and computer were also confiscated. 

Ms. Jing was put on criminal detention on the same day. Her arrest was approved seven days later. 

After the prosecutor returned her case due to insufficient evidence, the police collected all electronic devices they could find, including her child’s cellphone and computer, the computer she used for her own business, and even her landlord’s used computer, as prosecution evidence against her. 

On August 3, 2017, the Gaoxin District Court sentenced her to 1.5 years for possessing “a large amount” of Falun Gong materials. When her lawyer demanded the judge demonstrate the evidence in court, the judge rejected him and removed the lawyer from the courtroom.

Related reports:

Ms. Jing Huiling Illegally Detained, Authorities Violate Criminal Procedure Law

Lawyer Expelled from Courtroom; Practitioner Sentenced Based on Superseded Law