Two Women, Aged 80 and 61, Lose Their Appeals against Wrongful Terms for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) The appeals by two Xinyang City, Henan Province residents against the prison sentences for their faith in Falun Gong were recently denied.

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

Ms. Bai Yuzhen, 80, and Ms. Jin Yuling, a 61-year-old former school accountant, were arrested by plainclothes officers at Ms. Bai’s home on June 22, 2021. The police ransacked both women’s residences without a search warrant or showing their IDs, nor did they provide a list of confiscated items.

Both women were held at the Xinyang City No.1 Detention Center, despite the fact that Ms. Bai was found to have high blood pressure upon admission. The mental distress from the persecution and physical abuse caused both practitioners’ health to decline. They lost a significant amount of weight. At the time of writing, Ms. Bai still struggles with hearing loss and swelling of her legs, while Ms. Jin suffers from generalized pain.

The two practitioners were tried by the Huangchuan County Court at the detention center on December 14, 2021. They were charged with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used to frame Falun Gong practitioners.

The judge announced their verdicts on January 11, 2022, sentencing Ms. Jin to 3.5 years in prison with an 8,000-yuan fine and Ms. Bai to 3 years with a 5,000-yuan fine. The practitioners appealed with the Xinyang City Intermediate Court. They argued that no law criminalizes Falun Gong in China and that the prosecutor failed to provide any evidence of how they undermined law enforcement.

In February 2022, Ms. Jin had a lump growing on her chest. She requested to go to the hospital for a physical checkup. The detention center wouldn’t let her, but only provided some IV drips to her, which didn’t do much help to her. They eventually took her to Xinyang City Cancer Hospital one week later, and the doctors there suggested she be hospitalized.

On the morning of April 26, Ms. Jin was suddenly informed by the higher court that she was scheduled to appear in court in the afternoon for her appeal case. She struggled to attend the session and her family was devastated to see her pale face and sunken eyes.

Worried about her, her family went to the detention center on April 28 to demand her release. The high court agreed the next day to release her for residential surveillance.

Although no witness appeared in court to accept cross examination and none of the prosecution evidence was presented in court, the judge announced on June 15 to uphold the practitioners’ original verdicts.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Zhao Mingya (赵明亚), officer, Shihe Police Station: [phone], [phone]Zhang Zhenjia (张振家), prosecutor, Xinyang City Procuratorate: [phone]Zhang Xinzhong (张新中), president, Xinyang City Intermediate Court: [phone]Zhu Hong (朱虹), presiding judge, Xinyang City Intermediate Court: [phone], [phone]Zhang Junjun (张军军), judge, Huangchuan County Court: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related reports:

Two Women’s Appeal Against Wrongful Terms for Practicing Falun Gong Heard by Higher Court

Two Henan Women, 60 and 80, Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong