(Minghui.org) Minghui.org recently learned of the five-year prison sentence of a Yulin City, Shaanxi Province resident for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhang Cuifang’s wrongful conviction followed three court appearances between March and May 2023. It is unclear exactly when she was sentenced or where she is currently being held.
This isn’t the first time that Ms. Zhang, in her 60s, has been targeted for upholding her faith. She was arrested in February 2013 for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was held at the Fugu County Detention Center for five days. More than 2,000 yuan with information about Falun Gong printed on the bills was confiscated. Agents from the Fugu County 610 Office raided her home again in 2014 and took her Falun Gong books and informational materials.
Because she had Falun Gong materials at home, Ms. Zhang was arrested again on July 31, 2017, and sentenced to 1.5 years in late 2017.
Details of Latest Persecution
Ms. Zhang was handing out Falun Gong informational materials on August 1, 2022, when she gave a copy to someone who turned out to be an official with the Yuyang District Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extra-judiciary agency tasked with overseeing the persecution.
Angered by what Ms. Zhang was doing, the man reported her. The police raided Ms. Zhang’s home, confiscating all her Falun Gong books, and several thousand yuan in cash with information about Falun Gong printed on the bills as a way to raise awareness about the persecution due to strict information censorship in China.
Terrified by the police violence, Ms. Zhang’s husband, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, didn’t dare to come home for many days.
Ms. Zhang appeared in the Yuyang District Court on March 9, 2023. She refused to answer any questions and the judge adjourned the proceedings. At her second hearing in late March, the prosecutor presented two witnesses who claimed she gave them Falun Gong brochures.
The judge didn’t inform Ms. Zhang’s family of her third hearing on May 1, 2023 as required by law. Seeing no one from her family in the courtroom, Ms. Zhang knew that they must not have been given any advance notice of the hearing. She protested the violation of legal procedure. Only then did the judge inform her nephew, who worked in the courthouse, and her daughter, but neither one was able to take time off work on such short notice. In the end, Ms. Zhang’s husband, who has an intellectual disability due to carbon monoxide poisoning many years ago, was brought in, and was the only family member at her hearing.
Ms. Zhang was later sentenced at an unknown date.
Related Reports:
Shaanxi Woman Makes Third Court Appearance for Giving Out Falun Gong Materials
Shaanxi Woman Faces Prison Sentence for Distributing Falun Gong Materials
Copyright © 2024 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
