(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Sumei from Baoding City, Hebei Province, was sentenced to one and a half years on October 31, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Li was arrested on the evening of September 26, 2022, by deputy chief Liu Xiaodong from the Jiezhuang Police Station and his two subordinates. More than ten other practitioners were also arrested and had their homes ransacked around the same time. The police monitored the practitioners’ activities and phone calls before they were arrested.
Ms. Li has since been held at the Qingyuan Detention Center. Due to tremendous mental pressure, she experienced high blood pressure. She also had a relapse of her heart condition and severe depression, which she had long recovered from thanks to her practice of Falun Gong. Her conditions persisted even after she took the medicine provided by the detention center.
Her family submitted an urgent request to the detention center to release her for medical treatment, but to no avail. Her lawyer also turned in his legal opinion, demanding that the case be dismissed. But the Jingxiu District Procuratorate still approved her arrest and transferred her case to the Gaoyang County Procuratorate. She was later indicted and had her case moved to the Gaoyang County Court. Judge Li Zhiyong (no relation to Ms. Li) also denied her family’s requests to release her on bail for medical attention, with the excuse that she didn’t have a doctor’s note to verify her conditions.
The Gaoyang County Court held the first hearing of Ms. Li’s case in the detention center on August 18, 2023, but the session was soon adjourned due to an equipment malfunction. Ms. Li appeared to be very weak and had difficulty talking during the session.
During the second hearing on September 6, 2023, judge Li had an ambulance on standby, in case Ms. Li suffered a medical emergency. Ms. Li’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. He said that the prosecutor failed to provide evidence to show how Ms. Li had allegedly caused any damage to any individual, or society at large. He added that the authentication report issued by the Baoding City Police Department should be inadmissible as only an independent, third-party forensic agency is authorized to authenticate prosecution evidence.
The lawyer also said that his client’s practicing Falun Gong is her exercising her freedom of belief which is protected by China’s Constitution. She also hadn’t violated any law by having Falun Gong books or doing the exercises to keep fit.
Judge Li held a sentencing hearing at the detention center on October 31, 2023. The arresting officers from the Jiezhuang Police Station presented a new piece of evidence – an arrest warrant that was issued after Ms. Li’s first two court hearings. Her lawyer pointed out that the very timing of the arrest warrant was proof that the police were in violation of legal procedures. Judge Li still sentenced Ms. Li to one and a half years at the end of the hearing.
Related reports:
Hebei Woman Faces Third Hearing for Practicing Falun Gong
Hebei Woman Develops Medical Conditions While Detained for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Baoding City, Hebei Province: Nine Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day
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