68-year-old Man Sentenced to 38 Months for Distributing Falun Gong Materials

(Minghui.org) A 68-year-old man in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, was sentenced to three years and two months in July 2023 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.

Mr. Jia Jianhuai and his wife Ms. Xiao Hongmei distributed informational materials about Falun Gong in the Yangguang neighborhood on July 10, 2021, and were reported to the police. The police staked out their home and arrested them two days later when they came back. Their home was also ransacked.

The couple was taken to the Jiayuguan Road Police Station and interrogated until the next afternoon. Ms. Xiao was transferred to the Yuzhong County Lockup four days later, while Mr. Jia was taken to the Xincheng Lockup after nine days at the police station. Both of them were released on July 26.

On September 8, 2021, officer Ma Zhanxian of the Tuanjie New Village Police Station deceived Mr. Jia into going to his office, claiming he was going to return his confiscated cell phone. Mr. Jia was arrested and put in criminal detention in the Honggu District Detention Center. He was transferred to the Lanzhou City No.3 Detention Center after his arrest was approved on September 24. Due to the poor conditions in the detention center, he developed high blood pressure and was forced to take unknown drugs against his will.

Prosecutors Zhang Li and Bai Jun of the Chengguan District Procuratorate indicted Mr. Jia on November 18, 2021. The Chengguan District Court tried him on April 7, 2023. His lawyer entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

The lawyer pointed out that all Falun Gong materials confiscated from Mr. Jia were his lawful assets and no evidence was presented to show how he had violated any law by having the materials. Moreover, China’s law-making body, the People’s Congress, has never deemed Falun Gong a crime or labeled it a cult. The lawyer said that Mr. Jia was merely practicing his faith and didn’t harm anyone. He demanded that Mr. Jia be acquitted and released.

The presiding judge, Teng Xiaoqiong, announced on July 24 that Mr. Jia was sentenced to three years and two months with a 10,000-yuan fine. Mr. Jia received an official copy of the verdict on August 3, and his lawyer filed an appeal with the Lanzhou City Intermediate Court on his behalf.

It’s not clear if Ms. Xiao is facing prosecution.

Past Persecution

Mr. Jia was born on July 1, 1955. He worked for the Gansu Geological Engineering Construction Company before he retired. In his younger years, he suffered frequent headaches and was often bedridden. Only two months after he took up Falun Gong in December 1995, he recovered.

On the evening of July 21, 1999, one day after the persecution started, Mr. Jia and Ms. Xiao were arrested. Since then, they have endured non-stop harassment, arrests, home ransacking, incarceration, and torture.

Following Mr. Jia’s other arrest on March 15, 2005, he was interrogated for nearly 30 hours at the Lanzhou City Police Department. While being held at the Lanzhou City No.2 Detention Center, he was forced to work without pay. The inmates beat him whenever he failed to finish the daily work quota. Three of his upper teeth fell out from the beating, and he was covered in bruises. The guards frequently deprived him of food, and he became emaciated.

Mr. Jia was later sentenced to three years and transferred to the Lanzhou Prison in June 2006. He developed tuberculous, pleurisy, ascites, and hepatitis B. Despite this, the guards still forced him to do intensive labor without pay.

A month after Mr. Jia’s arrest, his employer stopped making contributions to his social security account. He wasn’t allowed to go back to work after he was released on March 17, 2008, either, and had to do odd jobs to make a living. The local community committee staffers and police officers still constantly harassed him and his family.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Zhang Sanlin (张三林), chief, Tuanjie New Village Police Station: [phone]Ma Zhanxian (马占贤), officer, Tuanjie New Village Police Station: [phone]Luo Tao (罗涛), president of the Chengguan District Procuratorate: [phone]Teng Xiaoqiong (腾霄琼), presiding judge of the Chengguan District Court: [phone]Ma Xinyan (马鑫燕), judge, Chengguan District CourtZhang Xiyu (张曦予), judge, Chengguan District Court: [phone]

Related report:

The Hidden Persecution Inside Lanzhou City Third Detention Center