(Minghui.org) A resident in Guilin City, Guangxi Province is having gastrointestinal bleeding and swelling on his neck, while being imprisoned for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. The situation of his wife, who was arrested and sentenced with him, remains unclear, as the prison is blocking any form of contact between her and her family.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Xie Jianxin and Ms. Zhao Renyuan were arrested at home in the middle of the night on February 5, 2020. The police claimed that they were there to take the couple’s temperature. After Mr. Xie refused to open the door, the police broke in and arrested them.
When the couple’s family called the police on February 8 to inquire about their case, a police officer said that the two were arrested for handing out Falun Gong materials, but he refused to provide any other information.
The couple stood trial at the Xiufeng District Court on November 6, 2020. The judge sentenced them to four years with a 5,000-yuan fine each on December 1, 2020.
The Guilin City Intermediate Court accepted their cases on December 16, nine days after they filed the appeal. In early January 2021, Ms. Zhao’s lawyer tried to contact the judge assigned to the appeal cases, but to no avail. A court clerk later told him that the judge has issued the ruling to uphold the couple’s sentences at the end of December 2020, but without informing the lawyer. Now six months have passed, the couple’s family has yet to receive the verdict from the intermediate court.
Ms. Zhao was transferred to the Guangxi Province Women’s Prison in Nanning on February 9, 2021. When her family called the prison in mid-February, the guards said they wouldn’t allow them to visit her due to the pandemic. They wrote a letter to her, but haven't heard back. They called the prison again in May and the guards still refused to provide any information about Ms. Zhao.
Mr. Xie was taken to the Liuzhou Prison on April 8, 2021. According to his lawyer, he has had several episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding at the detention center. In the letter Mr. Xie wrote to his family, he noted that the swelling on his neck is getting worse.
Related reports:
Arrested in the Middle of the Night, Guangxi Woman Detained Incommunicado for Over Three Months
Police Arrest Falun Gong Practitioners in the Middle of the Night to “Take Their Temperatures”
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