(Minghui.org) Ms. Yang Ruiqin, 69, a Falun Gong practitioner from the Hulan District in Harbin City, was illegally arrested in April 2014, and sentenced to three years in prison. She is currently appealing to a higher court. Prior to this arrest, she had been detained three times in 2000, and brutally tortured in labor camps in 2001 and 2002.
Prosecutor Agrees with Defense, But Ms. Yang Still Sentenced
Ms. Yang was arrested for clarifying the facts about Falun Gong and distributing Shen Yun DVDs to students near an elementary school on November 18, 2013. She was taken to the Harbin City No. 2 Detention Center by Chen Zhaolin and Ma Dan from the Hulan Domestic Security Division, and Du Zhu and Gao Yan from the Guangming Police Station.
She was tried by the Hulan District Court, based on the charge of “Using a heretical organization to undermine the implementation of law,” on April 8, 2014.
Her attorney pleaded not-guilty on her behalf, arguing that since distributing Shen Yun DVDs is a belief-related issue and not a crime, Ms. Yang should be released immediately.
Mr. Qi You, her 72-year-old husband, also defended her, describing how Ms. Yang had benefited from Falun Gong, and how well she took care of his mother until her death at the age of 96. He spoke of how happy their family has been since his wife became a practitioner.
The prosecutor did not disagree with any statements made by the defense, but the court still sentenced her to a three-year prison term.
When Mr. Qi protested the sentence, the presiding judge simply said, “That's how it is in our country.”
Incarcerated and Brutally Tortured
Ms. Yang was harassed frequently by officers from the Hulan District Police Department. She was detained three times in 2000 for refusing to sign a guarantee statement renouncing Falun Gong.
Ms. Yang was arrested on January 18, 2001, and taken to Harbin City Wanjia Forced Labor Camp for a one-year term. She was brutally tortured for refusing to be “transformed" and had to be taken to a hospital twice for emergency treatment.
Ms. Yang was released on June 20, 2002. She was reported and arrested again for clarifying the facts about Falun Gong to her former colleagues.
She was sentenced to three years of forced labor at the Heilongjiang Drug Addiction Treatment Center. To force her to “transform” and sign the three statements, the guards tortured and fractured one of her fingers, which is now permanently bent.
Ms. Yang, who is retired from a pharmaceutical company, has had a gastrectomy, and suffered liver and heart diseases. She tried a variety of medical treatments, but nothing worked. Her diseases disappeared after she started practicing Falun Gong in 1998.
Parties Involved in the Persecution of Ms. Yang:
Jiang Jimin (姜继民), deputy chief of Hulan District Police Department: +86-13903665588 (Cell)Chen Zhaolin (陳兆林), captain of Hulan Domestic Security Division: +86-13945126069 (Cell), +86-57325999 (Home)Du Zhu (杜智), chief of the Guangming Police Station: +86-15045055577 (Cell), +86-451-57321123 (Office)
