(Minghui.org) Ms. Cao Naixin, 68, is retired from the Naxi District Silk Factory, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province. She was falsely accused of a crime and illegally arrested on April 5, 2016. Later, police concocted a false confession. She was secretly tried and sentenced to a two-year prison term. She was recently released.
The series of events that led to Ms. Cao's arrest and prison sentencing indicated that the authorities had set up the entire incident to frame Ms. Cao because she was known by the authorities to be a Falun Gong practitioner.
Framed by Urban Management Officer
Ms. Cao Naixin was on her way to the city for a hair appointment followed by a visit with her niece on April 5, 2016. She was sitting on a bench after getting off the bus.
A garbage collector stopped nearby. An elderly man who sat on the bench inquired about some CDs that he saw. The garbage collector said, “Maybe it's about Falun Gong.”
The elderly man took a few CDs. When he saw Ms. Cao approaching, he offered some CDs to Ms. Cao. The elderly man put some Falun Gong materials into her bag.
An urban management officer stopped the elderly man as he was leaving and questioned him about the CDs. The officer then put the CDs into Ms. Cao's bag and called the police to arrest her.
The police told Ms. Cao's son that she would be held for five days. However, she was transferred to a detention center two days later, a violation of the law.
A police officer from the Domestic Security Division was supposed to interrogate Ms. Cao on April 7, 2016. He did not ask her anything but just kept writing. Ms. Cao wanted to talk, but the officer ordered her to sign the report and fingerprint it. Then, a female police officer just signed the report without reading it and left.
Secret Trial
Ms. Cao was detained in the detention center for several months. She was not notified about having to face a trial. Ms. Cao had not received an official indictment during her detention and thus did not know the charges against her. She did not know she could hire a defense lawyer. She was secretly tried in the detention center, without her family members being informed about the trial. Besides the people working in Jiangyang District Court, there were no court observers.
The charges against her were fabricated. Later, she realized the charges were made by the police from the Domestic Security Division during the interrogation. Ms. Cao tried to explain what had happened, the source of the materials, the evidence fabricated by the urban management officer and how she was interrogated. However, her statement was completely ignored. She was sentenced to a two-year prison term.
Transferred to Prison from Detention Center
Ms. Cao Naxin was detained at the Naxi Detention Center, Luzhou City for 15 months. Then, she was secretly transferred to a prison.
She said, “One day, I was told that I was being transferred to another place and must leave now. I was not told where I was going. I was not allowed to take any personal belongings such as my clothes and daily necessities and was wearing my slippers.”
She continued, “The Naxi Detention Center personnel was fully aware that I was framed and wrongly charged -- they were afraid of being exposed. Thus, they did not inform my family. I was handcuffed and shackled during the transfer to the women's prison.”
Ms. Cao was detained in the No. 5 Ward, Longquan Women's Prison. She was monitored by two inmates around the clock. She was forced to watch slanderous programs about Falun Gong and pressured to give up her belief.
For noncompliance with the prison requirements, one had to stand in front of the wall without moving for over 10 hours a day. There were other restrictions, such as deprivation of restroom usage.
Torture
Ms. Cao said, “My leg was injured and had not fully healed. I was limping. Yet, I still had to stand for long hours facing the wall. Besides that, I had to listen to slanderous propaganda about Falun Gong. I was questioned by inmate Long Qingmei about my understanding of the television programs. I said that I did not watch them. She slapped my face. When I told the guard that the inmate had hit me, the guard said, “Really? Where are you hurt?
“The inmates were told that they would receive a term reduction when mistreating practitioners. Torture methods included standing for long hours, as well as sleep and food deprivation.”
Her leg was swollen with pus running down to her feet, so she was taken to the prison hospital where she found out that the practitioners in No. 6 Ward were treated even worse than her. Those who persisted in their belief were put in handcuffs and shackles and locked to an iron chair.
Someone saw Ms. Zhang Lihui, a Falun Gong practitioner from Luzhou City, tied to a tree.
There are many practitioners in the Longquan Women's Prison including Ms. Liang Wende, Ms. Luo Suizhen, Ms. Tang Tianmin, Ms. Zhang Guangxian, Ms. Yang Taizhen, Ms. Feng Deqiong, Ms. Zhang Lihui, and Ms. Li Qun.
Since the onset of the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Ms. Cao was taken to a brainwashing center and incarcerated in a forced-labor camp twice.
