More Details about Beijing Woman’s Wrongful Sentence for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) While 71-year-old Ms. Li Shuyun has been sentenced to 3.5 years in December 2020 for practicing Falun Gong, her family hasn’t received any official notice about her trial or verdict so far. Ms. Li is still held at the Dongcheng Detention Center in Beijing at the time of writing and it’s not clear when she would be transferred to a prison. 

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. Li, a Beijing resident who retired from the Daqing Oilfield in Heilongjiang Province, was arrested at around 9:30 p.m. on June 28, 2020. Led by Shi Tailong, the deputy director of Yongdingmenwai Police Station, a group of eight officers broke into Ms. Li’s home and questioned her husband about what they had been doing in the past few days. 

Without a search warrant, the police searched Ms. Li’s bedroom, throwing her drawers on the floor. The police didn’t spare the room of the couple’s son, Mr. Fu Yujie, who is 41 and living with his parents, and they even lifted his bed and searched underneath.

The police took away the indictment and verdicts of Ms. Li’s previous terms for practicing Falun Gong and also confiscated the cellphones of all three family members. No confiscation list has ever been provided.

It’s reported that the police targeted Ms. Li after a security guard named Zhou Zichen reported to the police of finding Falun Gong informational materials at a mall. Officer Shi said the woman caught in the surveillance camera dropping off the materials at the mall looked like Ms. Li, and also because Ms. Li and her husband had gone shopping at the mall recently, he believed that it was her who distributed the materials there. 

The police interrogated the family of three for over 50 hours, without providing any food to them or allowing them to sleep. After Ms. Li’s husband and son were released, the police took her to the Dongcheng District Detention Center. The guards initially refused to accept Ms. Li, but relented with Shi’s strong demand.

Secretly Sentenced

Before confirming her prison sentence, Ms. Li's family had tried to inquire about her case with officer Shi. During one visit to the police station, they filled out several forms and turned in their cellphones, before finally being allowed to meet with Shi after a long wait. 

Ms. Li’s husband asked where Shi had taken his wife. Shi replied that he was no longer in charge of her case and directed him to the Dongcheng District Procuratorate and Dongcheng District Court. 

Ms. Li’s family confirmed that prosecutors Zhang Li and Dong Xuyuan of Dongcheng District Procuratorate indicted her on October 15, 2020, based on the documents submitted by Shi as well as Ms. Li’s previous verdicts. 

The Dongcheng District Court held a hearing of her on December 17, 2020. And judges Bai Chongwei, Wang Xin, Wang Dongdong and Li Pingping were involved in her case. The court assigned lawyer Xie Guangyi of Zhongdun Law Firm in Beijing to represent Ms. Li and enter a guilty plea for her. 

Past Persecution

Prior to her latest prison sentence, Ms. Li has been given two years of forced labor following her arrest in June 2008. She was arrested and detained two more times, in April 2016 and March 2017, respectively. 

Following her next arrest with her son on May 13, 2017, the Fengtai District Court sentenced her to two years with a2,000 yuan fine and her son to one year with a 1,000 yuan fine on May 10, 2018. Her computer and printer were confiscated. 

In order to prevent her lawyer Dong Qianyong from entering a not guilty plea for her, the authorities arrested him and have often harassed and intimidated him since.

On August 8, 2018, Ms. Li filed an appeal with Beijing City No.2 Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original verdict. Only a year after she was released, she was arrested again and now sentenced to 3.5 years with a 4,000 yuan fine. 

In addition to the persecution against Ms. Li, the authorities also constantly harassed her husband and son, leaving them deeply traumatized. The mental pressure took a toll on the health of her husband and he has developed many ailments in the past few years.

Ms. Li's mother-in-law in her 90s often asked about her whereabouts. Ms. Li’s husband was worried that her being sentenced would deal a blow to his mother, so he hasn’t told his mother about her situation. 

Related report:

Beijing Woman Sentenced Again One Year After Finishing Previous Term for Her Faith