Elementary School Teacher Secretly Sentenced to Six Years for Her Faith
(Minghui.org) A Hailin City, Heilongjiang Province resident was recently sentenced to six years for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Xu Ying, a 53-year-old elementary school teacher, was arrested on August 11, 2022 and taken to the Mudanjiang City Detention Center that same day. The Hailin City Court held a secret trial on November 22 and sentenced her to six years. The authorities refused to provide any details about her sentencing.
This is the fourth time that Ms. Xu has been incarcerated in the past ten years for upholding her faith. She was given 1.5 years of forced labor in 2012, held at a brainwashing center for a month and sentenced to three years in prison in 2015.
1.5-year Forced Labor Camp Term
Ms. Xu was arrested at home on August 14, 2012. Her computer, printer and cellphone were confiscated. After three months at the local detention center, she was taken to the Qianjin Forced Labor Camp on November 1 to serve a 1.5-year term.
Because Ms. Xu refused to renounce Falun Gong, the guards barred her family from visiting or making cash deposits for her to buy daily necessities. Instigated by the guards, inmate Lyu Haishan monitored Ms. Xu around the clock and ordered her to recite the labor camp rules. Lyu beat and verbally abused her at will.
Several inmates beat Ms. Xu together on March 26, 2013, including hitting her head with a rolled up newspaper, holding her on the ground and stomping on her, as well as denying her from using the restroom.
The guards prohibited Ms. Xu and three other practitioners, Ms. Tian Qingling, Ms. Lin Peiyu and Ms. Wang Dongli, from washing themselves, eating or drinking water.
The four practitioners have held a hunger strike since May 25 in protest. The guards retaliated by forcing Ms. Xu to stand overnight. On the next day, she and Ms. Lin were restrained in metal chairs and Ms. Tian was placed in solitary confinement. Guard Zhou Muqi handcuffed Ms. Xu tightly, and then grabbed her hair and slapped her in the face. Her face swelled up and she also lost a handful of hair as a result.
Torture Reenactment: Metal Chair
A few months later, the communist regime began to shut down labor camps across the country due to international scrutiny. Ms. Xu was released on August 17, 2013.
Tortured in the Brainwashing Center
Ms. Xu was arrested again on March 17, 2014 while at work and taken to the Hailin City Detention Center. The guards verbally abused her, slapped her in the face, stepped on her face with their leather shoes, spit on her face, and poured cold water over her.
Ms. Xu was transferred to the Qiqihar Brainwashing Center on April 16 and ordered to watch videos smearing Falun Gong. When she refused to comply, the guards handcuffed her to a cabinet and forced her to sit on a small stool in front of the TV.
Gu Songhai, the head of Heilongjiang Province 610 Office, came to the brainwashing center in early May. In order to force Ms. Xu to renounce her faith, Gu slapped her in the face over 30 times. When his hands hurt from the beating, he hit Ms. Xu with a remote control. He also grabbed Ms. Xu’s hair and hit her head against the wall. Another guard surnamed Qian forced Ms. Xu to stand for long hours every day for seven days without bending her legs.
Qian and two other brainwashing center officials, Zhang Yang and Cai, grabbed Ms. Xu’s hands and forced her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong against her will. She was released on May 24, 2014.
Sentenced to Three Years
Ms. Xu was seized by the police on November 24, 2014, while on her way home after work. She was taken to the Mudanjiang City Detention Center in the evening. The guards also ordered the inmates to monitor and beat her. She was handcuffed and shackled to the ground four times for doing Falun Gong exercises.
Torture illustration: handcuffed and shackled to the ground
The Hailin City Court held a hearing of Ms. Xu’s case on April 14, 2015 and later sentenced her to three years. She was taken to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on May 13, 2015.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Liu Xingli (刘兴利), president of Hailin City Court: +86-453-7321008Jiang Xinkun (姜新昆), presiding president of Hailin City Court: +86-13904834266, +86-453-7117271Wang Wei (王威), director of Hailin City Domestic Security Office: +86-18745351789, +86-453-7336502
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)