(Minghui.org) A 52-year-old resident of Fushun City, Liaoning Province was sentenced to four and a half years with a 18,000-yuan fine weeks after he stood trial on May 16, 2024, for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The guilty verdict of Mr. Lyu Qing was issued by the Dongzhou District Court and bore the signatures of presiding judge Zhang Yang, judges Li Ying and Li Chunmei, clerk Liu Mingkun, and prosecutor Su Congduo (who is also the vice chief prosecutor of the Dongzhou District Procuratorate).
By law, the verdict should include statements made by both the prosecution and the defense. The ruling against Mr. Lyu, however, did not make any mention of his wife’s testimony against the police for forcing her to sign a blank paper, which was then filled out with fabricated evidence against him. Judge Zhang only allowed the defense attorney to read out aloud the testimony during the court hearing.
Mr. Lyu, an employee of the Second Petroleum Plant of Fushun Petrochemical Company, is currently appealing the wrongful conviction while being held at the Fushun City Detention Center (also known as Nangou Detention Center). His latest sentence was preceded by a prior prison term of two years and eleven months following his arrest in 2016. He endured torture throughout his detention and sustained severe injuries. Even years after his prison release in June 2019, he still has not made a full recovery.
Latest Arrest
Mr. Lyu was arrested outside his apartment building at 2 p.m. on October 19, 2023, by officers from the Dongzhou District Police Department and the Dongzhou Police Station. The police raided his home and took him to the Fushun City Detention Center.
While Mr. Lyu was in detention, the police summoned his wife to the Dongzhou Police Station. She initially refused, but relented after captain Zhang Aiqun of the Dongzhou District Police Department threatened to list her as a “suspect” if she refused to be a “prosecution witness.”
Officer Nian Banghe videotaped the interrogation of Mr. Lyu’s wife. He held up a piece of paper and questioned her as to whether Mr. Lyu had printed it. But it was unclear what was on the paper or whether his wife responded to the question.
Captain Zhang and deputy captain Zhang Zhe, along with officer Meng Xianyu from the Dongzhou Police Station, ordered Mr. Lyu’s wife to sign and fingerprint four sheets of blank paper. Under pressure, she did as told.
Mr. Lyu’s wife hired a lawyer to represent him. The lawyer visited him in the detention center and learned that he had trouble falling sleep. His wife submitted a bail request to the Dongzhou District Procuratorate. Instead of releasing Mr. Lyu on bail, the procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant against him and indicted him at an unknown date.
Trial
Before the court hearing on May 16, 2024, Mr. Lyu’s wife submitted a written testimony against the police for forcing her to sign blank paper to both the procuratorate and the court, but received no response.
During the court hearing, prosecutor Su read out aloud every piece of the police-supplied prosecution evidence. Mr. Lyu’s wife was shocked to hear that the police “recorded” more than two-page-long “confession” she made “against” her husband during the interrogation on October 19, 2023. She never said anything that would have incriminated her husband. Instead, she was forced to sign four sheets of blank paper. Prosecutor Su, however, never mentioned her written testimony against the police. Judge Zhang later allowed Mr. Lyu’s lawyer to read the testimony.
Su also cited as prosecution evidence a flash drive confiscated from Mr. Lyu’s home that contained a certain number of audio files (in mp3 and mp4 formats). Mr. Lyu said those audio files were all about Falun Gong information and challenged Su to play them in court. He emphasized that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that the contents in the audio files were totally lawful. It is unclear whether Su played any of the audio files.
Mr. Lyu also shared how Falun Gong restored his health and turned him into a better person. He contracted hepatitis B in his mid-20s and later developed severe liver cirrhosis. His parents spent all their savings on his medical treatment but nothing helped. A friend then suggested he read Zhuan Falun, the main teaching of Falun Gong. He heeded the advice and was surprised to see his pain gone the very first day he started reading the book. He was in awe and decided to practice Falun Gong seriously. He had a checkup one year later and all his health indicators had returned to normal.
As the youngest child with four older sisters, Mr. Lyu was spoiled rotten growing up. After he took up Falun Gong, he learned to be more considerate of others. Once he went shopping and was given an extra change of 95 yuan. He immediately gave the money back to the vendor.
Mr. Lyu said to the judges and the prosecutor, “Had I not learned Falun Gong, do you think I’d have given the money back?” Nowadays in China, it is very common for people to make extra money in whatever way possible.
He demanded an acquittal. The judges ignored his request and sentenced him not long after the court hearing (exact date unknown).
Related report:
52-Year-Old Man Faces Trial for His Faith, Wife Forced to Sign and Fingerprint Blank Paper
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