(Minghui.org) The month of July 2021 recorded 69 Falun Gong practitioners sentenced for their faith, which has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

To date, a total of 736 sentencing cases have been reported in 2021, including 186 in January, 120 in February, 100 in March, 90 in April, 96 in May, 75 in June and 69 in July.

Among the 69 newly reported cases, 7 took place in 2020, 30 were in the first half of 2021, 28 in July 2021, as well as 4 cases that took place in 2021 with unknown months of occurrence. This new information also brought the total known sentencing cases that took place in 2021 to 451, which accounts for 61.3% of the 736 reported cases. The remaining 285 reported cases break down into 278 cases that took place in 2020 (37.7%) and 7 cases in 2019 (1%).

The delay in the reporting of the cases was mostly caused by the strict information censorship in China, which makes it difficult for Minghui correspondents to collect and send out information in a timely manner.

The 69 newly reported sentencing cases in July took place in 21 provinces and municipalities. Hebei topped the list with 10 cases, followed by Liaoning (9), Heilongjiang (7), Hubei (6) and Jiangsu (5). The remaining 16 regions have cases between 1 to 4.

Thirteen (18.8%) of the sentenced practitioners were older than 65, with 1 between 65 and 70, 10 in their 70s and 2 in their 80s. An 85-year-old retired teacher was sentenced to three years.

Thirteen practitioners were fined between 3,000 to 100,000 yuan, with a sum of 346,000 yuan and averaging 26,615 yuan per person.

The prison terms ranged from six months to ten years, with an average of 3.5 years. Three practitioners in Heilongjiang Province who were sentenced together were given both lengthy terms and heavy fines, including a man who was sentenced to nine years and fined 100,000 yuan, a woman who was sentenced to seven years and fined 80,000 yuan, and another man who was sentenced to four years and fined 5,000 yuan.

Below are snapshots of the cases reported in July 2021. The full list of sentenced practitioners can be downloaded here (PDF).

Heavy Terms

Three Heilongjiang Residents Sentenced for Distributing Information About Their Faith

Three Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province residents were sentenced on June 2, 2021: Mr. Bao Wanming, 50, was sentenced to nine years and fined 100,000 yuan; Ms. Teng Shuli, 51, was sentenced to seven years and fined 80,000 yuan; and Mr. Zhou Keming, 53, was sentenced to four years and fined 50,000 yuan.

Mr. Zhou was reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. After monitoring him for a period of time, the police arrested him on October 12, 2020. Ms. Teng and Mr. Bao, who distributed materials with Mr. Zhou, were also arrested.

While arresting Ms. Teng, the police refused to allow her to put on a jacket, even though the weather was already chilly in October. At the Jiguan District Police Department, the officers took turns interrogating her. They didn’t allow her to sleep or use the restroom, even when she was having her menstrual period at the time. The 3,000 yuan cash she had in her bag was also confiscated.

The three practitioners’ arrests were approved on November 18 and they were detained at the Jixi City Detention Center.

The three practitioners were tried by the Jidong County Court on April 23, 2021, through a video conference. Only Mr. Bao was represented by a lawyer, who entered a not guilty plea for him. The other two practitioners acted as their own lawyers and also pleaded not guilty. The judge and prosecutor constantly interrupted their defense.

Ms. Teng recounted the physical abuse she suffered in custody. Mr. Bao testified against the police for including items not belonging to him as prosecution evidence against him. And Mr. Zhou argued that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong in China and that his passing out materials about the persecution was to raise awareness about it and didn’t harm anyone. He also pointed out that the number of prosecution evidence used by the police against him didn’t match the items confiscated from him.

Mr. Bao’s lawyer added that the persecution doesn’t have any legal basis. The lawyer further stated that while the authorities accused the practitioners of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the police failed to provide any evidence to say what law enforcement has been undermined or how.

The lawyer also echoed his client’s argument that the police have violated the legal procedure themselves in arbitrarily ransacking the practitioners’ homes and fabricating prosecution evidence.

When the lawyer cited a notice from the Chinese Publication Bureau that revoked the ban on Falun Gong books, the prosecutor, Liu Chunbo, responded that “We don’t follow this [in prosecuting the case].”

In response to the lawyer’s request to verify the discrepancy in the number of pieces of evidence, the judge, Xu Zhongqi, ordered the lawyer to review the home-ransacking videos the next day, a Saturday when all the relevant agencies were closed.

Targeted in a Group Arrest, Six Hebei Residents Sentenced Up to 10 Years in Prison

Among the thirteen Tangshan City, Hebei Province residents who stood trial at the Luannan County Court on July 20, 2021, six are known to have been sentenced to prison.

Mr. Liu Weili was sentenced to ten years, Ms. Zhang Zhilan was given seven years, Mr. Zuo Desheng two years and six months, Mr. Wang Baozhu eleven months, and both Mr. Lu Lifa and Ms. Bi Guanqin were sentenced to six-month terms. It remains unclear whether the other seven practitioners are still awaiting verdicts.

The thirteen practitioners were arrested in a police sweep on August 12, 2020, when over 100 police officers were mobilized to terrorize, arrest, and torture more than 50 practitioners, in an attempt to force them to give up their faith. A few practitioners in nearby Tianjin, a centrally-controlled municipality, were also arrested. Mr. Dong Jianquan died on October 25, 2020, as a result of the tremendous pressure.

Well-regarded Restaurant Owner Sentenced to Eight Years for His Belief

Mr. Yang Jianlu and his wife Ms. Wang Huijun, of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, were arrested on December 3, 2019, while talking to people about Falun Gong at a local market. Although Ms. Wang was released two days later, Mr. Yang was held in the Xuanhua Detention Center.

The police submitted Mr. Yang’s case to the procuratorate in April 2020. When his lawyer called prosecutor Cheng Xing on May 7 to inquire about his case, Cheng said that he was planning to indict Mr. Yang and submit his case to the court in two or three days.

On September 4, 2020, Mr. Yang was tried in the Xuanhua District Court. He entered a not guilty plea and demanded that the judge play the DVDs confiscated from him. He said he didn’t violate the law in having Falun Gong informational materials.

Mr. Yang’s daughter also defended him in court. She said, “I have to say something when my father is being treated unjustly.” She said that in today’s society with rapidly declining morality, her father has always taught her to be a kind and upright person.

She described an incident in which a truck driver left a large bag of cash in her family restaurant after dining there. Her father kept the bag in a secure place and waited for the driver to come back. After confirming that the bag belonged to the truck driver, Mr. Yang returned it to him. The driver was very grateful. He said he couldn’t remember where he’d lost the money and had never expected to get it back, because most people in China now would just pocket the money and never bother to try to find the owner.

On another occasion, Mr. Yang did the catering for a wedding. He selected the best ingredients but gave them a generous discount. When the family came to pay him a few days after the wedding, they complained that one guest had diarrhea after returning home and they demanded that Mr. Yang lower the price by 900 yuan. Mr. Yang didn’t argue and charged 900 yuan less. His employees said they were impressed by his forbearance, given that most other restaurant owners would argue and fight with the customer.

The lawyer also read an affidavit signed by 415 local villagers in support of Mr. Yang.

The villagers said, “We are from Banpo Street. We are all shocked to hear about Yang Jianlu’s arrest. People in nearby villages all know that he practices Falun Gong and is a good person. Whoever needs help, he is always willing to lend a hand. We don’t know much about the sophisticated principles of Falun Gong, but we know that he didn’t do anything wrong in being a good person. He has been detained for nearly eight months. Please release him. Let his family reunite.”

The hearing started at 9:15 a.m. The judge adjourned for a ten-minute break at 11 a.m. When the judge adjourned it a second time around 1:30 p.m., the prosecutor left suddenly without giving a reason, so the judge had to end the hearing.

The judge sentenced Mr. Yang to eight years with a 10,000-yuan fine on March 16, 2021. He appealed with the Zhangjiakou City Intermediate Court, which upheld his original sentence on July 19, without having a hearing. He was taken to prison on the same day.

Targeted in a Group Arrest, Sichuan Man Secretly Sentenced to Nine Years

Mr. Shen Xuewen, of Meishan City, Sichuan Province, was arrested on July 10, 2019, during a police sweep of over 40 practitioners in Chengdu City, about 50 miles from Meishan. His family noted that his 30,000 yuan in cash, his computer and printer were missing from his home.

Mr. Shen’s family recently learned that he was sentenced to nine years in May 2021 and had been taken to the Jiazhou Prison. The authorities kept them in the dark throughout the entire prosecution process.

This wasn’t the first time that Mr. Shen has been persecuted for his faith. He was previously arrested on January 12, 2007, when he stopped by the home of another practitioner, Mr. Luo Libin, without knowing that the police were ransacking Mr. Luo’s home. Mr. Shen’s laptop, mp3 and informational materials about Falun Gong were confiscated.

He was arrested again on September 7, 2010, and interrogated through the night. At that time, he was detained for three days and then released.

Elderly Not Spared

85-year-old Woman Sentenced to Three Years for Her Faith

Ms. Han Guiyun, an 85-year-old retired teacher was informed on July 2, 2021, that she has been sentenced to three years and fined 10,000 yuan, for “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used by the Chinese Communist Party to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Han, a resident of Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, was arrested in a park on May 31, 2019, after being reported for talking to others about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home without her knowledge. After holding her in the local police station all day, they called her son to take her home at around 1 a.m. Ms. Han was taken back to the police station on June 18, 2019, and ordered to sign her bail release document.

The police later submitted her case to the Zhanqian District Procuratorate, which then indicted her and moved her case to the Zhanqian District Court.

During her trial in the Zhanqian District Court on March 10, 2021, Ms. Han testified in her own defense. She argued that there is no law in China that says that practicing Falun Gong is a crime and that the Chinese publication bureau revoked the ban on publishing Falun Gong literature in 2011.

When the police took Ms. Han for a physical exam after the hearing, she had dangerously high blood pressure and vomited. The local detention center refused to accept her and she was released again.

A police officer and two people from the residential committee harassed Ms. Han on March 12. They said that if she agreed to sign a statement promising not to practice Falun Gong anymore, they would give her a light sentence and she would still receive 60% of her pension. They threatened that if she refused to comply, they would suspend her entire pension. Ms. Han said she wouldn’t sign such a statement and they left. It remains to be seen whether the authorities have suspended her pension.

The police made another attempt to detain Ms. Han in late April. She was denied admission by the detention center again due to her high blood pressure, a condition she has been struggling with in the past year due to constant harassment by the police.

Judge Wang Feng convicted Ms. Han on June 3 and delivered the verdict to her on July 2. The “evidence” used against her included the fact that she had been practicing Falun Gong since 1996 and that she possessed Falun Gong materials at home. The judge ordered her to pay the fine within ten days after receiving the verdict. He is also to issue a separate notice as to when she would start serving time.

Retired Senior Engineer Sentenced to Five Years

Ms. Li Zhanjin, a 73-year-old retired senior engineer at the Qingniao Company affiliated with Beijing University, was arrested on September 29, 2019. The police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and computer, with the entire incident videotaped.

While she was detained at the Haidian District Detention Center, the authorities didn’t allow her family to visit or call her, and only accepted clothes and cash her family sent her.

Ms. Li was sentenced to five years by the Haidian District Court on May 31, 2021. She has appealed to the Beijing City No. 1 Intermediate Court and is now awaiting the result.

Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Li has been repeatedly arrested for practicing Falun Gong. She served one and a half years of forced labor and three years in prison.

76-year-old Woman Sentenced to Two Years for Practicing Falun Gong

Ms. Xu Zhenying, a 76-year-old Shenyang City, Liaoning Province resident, was reported in February 2020 by a supermarket cashier for using banknotes printed with information about Falun Gong. Due to strict information censorship in China, Falun Gong practitioners are using creative ways to spread information about the persecution of their faith, including printing messages on banknotes.

The police arrested Ms. Xu on February 17, 2020. Her husband, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, and their two children, Chen Xin and Chen Fei, were also arrested. Her husband was released hours later. As the local detention center refused to accept Ms. Xu and her two children due to the pandemic, they were released two days later to serve six months of house arrest.

Ms. Xu was indicted and had her case moved to the Huanggu District Court. She was summoned to the court in August 2020 to answer some questions. To avoid being sentenced, she went into hiding, only to be arrested again on February 26, 2021, while visiting another practitioner Ms. Jiang Shumei.

The police ransacked Ms. Jiang’s home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, computer, and printer. Both she and Ms. Xu were detained at the Shenyang City Detention Center.

Ms. Xu was tried by the Huanggu District Court through a virtual hearing on May 20, 2021. She was recently sentenced to two years. She filed an appeal with the Shenyang City Intermediate Court in June.

Ms. Jiang, 65, has also been indicted and is awaiting trial by the Huanggu District Court.

77-year-old Woman Sentenced to Five Years

While 77-year-old Ms. Sun Yanzhi in Fushun City, Liaoning Province was waiting for a bus on May 12, 2021, a car with no license plate stopped in front of her. Five police officers jumped out and arrested her. She was directly taken to the Nangou Detention Center.

While the Dongzhou Court denied that they never held a hearing of Ms. Sun when her family went there to inquire about her case, her family later found out judge Tian Hao had secretly sentenced her to five years a few days following her arrest. Ms. Sun was taken to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on June 28.

Ms. Sun’s arrest came seven months after she skipped a court hearing scheduled for October 20, 2020, for her faith in Falun Gong. She refused to show up in court because no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China and she shouldn’t be prosecuted for her faith.

Ms. Sun was previously arrested on January 9, 2020, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Although she was released that night, the police returned on February 4 to search her home. They attempted to confiscate her Falun Gong books but relented when she protested. The officers took her Falun Gong magazines instead.

Ms. Sun was summoned to the local police station on June 10. She urged the officers not to follow the communist regime in persecuting Falun Gong. The police refused to listen and still submitted her case to the procuratorate.

After Ms. Sun skipped the court hearing in October 2020, she lived away from home to avoid police harassment, only to be arrested and sentenced shortly after she returned home.

Elderly Woman Sentenced to Six Years for Giving Out a Flyer

Ms. Pan Yunxia, a Huainan City, Anhui Province resident nearly 70, was arrested on May 27, 2020, after she talked to a man in his 40s and gave him a flyer about how the Chinese communist regime covered up the pandemic and how Falun Gong has been effective in helping people recover from the disease.

Over 20 plainclothes officers surrounded her, pushed her down on the ground, and then dragged her into the police car. She was held at the Shannan Police Station for over 12 hours. During that time, the police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and a photo of Falun Gong’s founder. She was then released on bail.

In March 2021, the police accosted Ms. Pan twice and asked her more questions about where she got the flyer. They returned again on May 25 to confirm that the Falun Gong books and a photo of Falun Gong’s founder were hers. She was then summoned by the Fengtai County Procuratorate, which indicted her on June 10.

Ms. Pan stood trial in the Fengtai County Court on July 17, 2021. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. During the proceedings, the judge showed a photo of her in a hospital as evidence for the prosecution. Ms. Pan asked how could that be used as evidence against her.

Her family recently learned that she has been sentenced to six years.

Targeted for Speaking Out for Their Faith

Four Chongqing Residents Sentenced in Henan Province

Three Chongqing Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested by the police from Zhoukou City, Henan Province between July and October 2020 were sentenced to prison terms of three to five years by a court in Zhoukou around July 2021. A fourth Chongqing practitioner was also sentenced to prison in Zhoukou, though details of her term remain unclear.

Ms. Han Weifang, 75, and Ms. Yuan Rong, 66, were sentenced to five years. Ms. Wang Daiqing, around 50, was given three years.

The three practitioners’ ordeal started when police from Zhoukou traveled 700 miles to Chongqing and arrested the fourth practitioner, Ms. Yu Xiurong, on December 31, 2019.

It was reported that Ms. Yu was targeted because she published information about Falun Gong on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging website.

A few more practitioners whom the police suspected of raising awareness of Falun Gong online or exposing the persecution on the Minghui.org website were also arrested, including Ms. Han and Ms. Wang, who were arrested on July 1, 2020, and Ms. Yuan, who was arrested on October 24, 2020.

The practitioners were taken to Henan and held in the Zhoukou City Detention Center. When Ms. Han and Ms. Wang’s lawyers submitted their legal opinions and demanded the practitioners’ release, the police intimidated them and said they suspected the lawyers to be friends of Falun Gong.

The police later submitted the practitioners’ cases to the Chuanhui District Procuratorate, which then indicted them and moved their case to the Chuanhui District Court.

Ms. Han, Ms. Wang, and Ms. Yuan made two court appearances, on January 14 and April 29, 2021, and were convicted in June. It was reported that Ms. Yu has also been sentenced, but details about her trial and prison term remain unclear at the time of writing.

Shandong Woman Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

Ms. Xue Lianxia didn’t return home after she was summoned to the courthouse on the afternoon of June 21, 2021. Her family learned that she has been sentenced to three years in prison for practicing Falun Gong.

Ms. Xue, a Qingdao City, Shandong Province resident, was reported to police on November 6, 2020, for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in a residential area. Officers from the Dazhushan Police Station arrested her on November 11. She was released on bail the next day after her daughter paid 5,000 yuan in bail bond.

Ms. Xue received a call from the Huangdao District Procuratorate on May 14, 2021 and was told that the police had submitted her case to them. The same prosecutor called her again three days later and summoned her to their office.

Ms. Xue went to the procuratorate at the required time on May 18. The front desk receptionist didn’t allow her to go into their office, but took her to a temporary desk in the garage and asked her to sign a pile of documents. Ms. Xue refused to comply, saying that she hadn't violated any law. A procuratorate supervisor then came and ordered her to sign the documents.

When Ms. Xue tried to clarify to the officials that no law criminalizes Falun Gong in China, they said to her, “Don’t talk to us about such things. It’s the same whether you sign it or not. If you sign it, your term can be reduced by two years.” They asked her again whether she would sign the documents. Ms. Xue still said no. Then they left, and Ms. Xue returned home.

The next morning, four officers, including the police and residential committee staff members, went to Ms. Xue’s home and tried to persuade her to sign the documents. She continued to explain the facts about Falun Gong and the officers left 10 minutes later.

Ms. Xue was summoned to the Huangdao District Court on June 9. The prosecutor was also present and ordered her to sign her case documents again. Ms. Xue still refused to comply. The prosecutor was very angry and told her to return the next day. He also said that a court hearing has been scheduled for June 21.

Ms. Xue didn’t return to the court the next day, nor did she show up on June 21 for the hearing.

Around noontime on June 21, a court staff member called her and shouted at her, “Why didn’t you come to the court in the morning? We’ve asked you several times to sign the documents and you still haven't signed them. What do you want? I’m telling you, you have to come here at 2 in the afternoon and look for judge Yin or judge Ou. If you don’t come, we will arrest you.”

Ms. Xue went to the court in the afternoon, only to be taken back into custody by officers of the Dazhushan Police Station. After she refused to sign her arrest warrant, her daughter signed it for her.

Ms. Xue’s family said they learned from an insider that she has been sentenced to three years. The police took her for a physical examination on June 24 and she was put on a 14-day quarantine. It’s not clear whether she has been taken to prison after the quarantine ended.

Secret Sentencing and Denied Visitation

Targeted in a Group Arrest, Heilongjiang Woman Sentenced to Prison

Ms. Liu Yuqiu, a Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province resident, was arrested on December 11, 2020, when she and her husband were making dumplings at home. The police first turned off the electrical power switch in the hallway of her apartment building, and when her husband Mr. Xu You came out to check the situation, they held him on the ground and barged in.

One officer waved a piece of paper in front of Ms. Liu and claimed that it was a search warrant. When she reached out for the paper, the police also held her on the ground and handcuffed her.

The officers searched their residence and confiscated Ms. Liu’s Falun Gong books, three DVDs, her ID, 2,220 yuan in cash, and their bank deposit cards. The police also looked under their bed and inside their shoes in the closet.

As Mr. Xu doesn’t practice Falun Gong, he was released at 9:00 p.m. He remained terrified when recounting the ordeal a few days later.

Ms. Liu was first held at the Hegang City Detention Center and later sentenced to 3.5 years at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison. Details of her sentencing remain unclear at the time of writing.

Ms. Liu’s arrest was part of a massive persecution campaign in Hegang City. Over 80 practitioners were arrested between December 11 and 13, 2020.

The arrests were orchestrated by Zhang Fusheng, an officer from the Hegang City Domestic Security Office, and carried out by police stations across the city. Most arrests took place on December 12. Some practitioners had their homes ransacked and their Falun Gong books, photos of Falun Gong’s founder, computers, printers, and office supplies used to print Falun Gong materials at home confiscated.

Shanghai Resident Secretly Sentenced, Lawyer Denied Visitation

A Shanghai resident has been denied a lawyer’s visit since he was arrested for practicing Falun Gong nearly one year ago. His family recently confirmed that he has been sentenced to one year and two months. They are still trying to seek justice for him.

Mr. Zhang Nanping was arrested at work on July 20, 2020, by officers of Luhui Police Station. The police then ransacked his home and confiscated his computer, printer, and Falun Gong books. He was put on criminal detention on July 22.

Mr. Zhang has been held at the Minhang District Detention Center since. His arrest was approved on August 24.

Upon learning of Mr. Zhang’s arrest, his family rushed from his hometown of Jiangxi Province to Shanghai, trying to hire a Shanghai lawyer for him. After the local lawyer they spoke to said he was unable to visit Mr. Zhang at the detention center, his family hired another lawyer from Hebei Province who was willing to visit him.

When the lawyer traveled 700 miles to Shanghai on September 29, the detention center guards blocked him from visiting Mr. Zhang, claiming that all Falun Gong practitioners are denied visitation if their cases are still under investigation. The lawyer called the police to find out more about his case, but no one answered the phone.

The lawyer went to the detention center again on October 15 and the guards still rejected his meeting request. The lawyer filed a complaint with the prosecutor in charge of the detention center, only to see it being ignored.

The lawyer called the police on October 17 and still no one answered the phone. He also filed complaints with the Shanghai City Appeals Office, the Shanghai City Procuratorate, and several other agencies, but still to no avail.

It was recently confirmed by Mr. Zhang’s family that he has been sentenced to 14 months by the Fengxian District Court. Further details about the sentencing remain unknown at the time of writing.

Heilongjiang Woman Secretly Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Ms. Li Chunhuan, a 59-year-old Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, resident was transferred to a local prison in May 2021 to serve a four-year term for her faith in Falun Gong.

Ms. Li was arrested by a dozen officers on the evening of January 25, 2016. Her printer, two boxes of copy paper, ink cartridge, blank DVDs, and a photo of Falun Gong’s founder were confiscated.

The police interrogated her overnight at the Changqing Police Station and took her to the Jiamusi City Detention Center the next day. Due to high blood pressure, she was denied admission by the detention center and released the same day.

The police harassed her again on March 9, 2017, threatening to arrest her if she didn’t sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong.

The police monitored Ms. Li’s daily life and arrested her and her husband, Mr. Liu Xiangyi, on November 8, 2019. Ms. Li’s two residences were ransacked by the police. Her Falun Gong books and related materials were confiscated.

After the couple was interrogated at the Jiaoqu Domestic Security Division, the police took Ms. Li to the Jiamusi City Detention Center. They attempted to force Mr. Liu to provide false information against Ms. Li, but he refused to comply. With the help of a friend, he was then released.

Ms. Li was tried and sentenced to four years by the Xiangyang District Court in December 2020. The authorities kept her family in the dark concerning the hearing. The family never received a copy of her verdict.

As her family has been denied visitation since last year, they didn’t know she was transferred to Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on May 20, 2021, until they received a call from the prison, asking them to make a cash deposit for her. But the prison also denied her visitation, citing the pandemic.

Similar to Ms. Li, another practitioner in Jiamusi City, Ms. Xie Wei, was also secretly sentenced to six years by the Xiangyang District Court. Ms. Xie was targeted in a police sweep on July 27, 2019. A prosecutor visited her in the detention center in mid-June 2020 and gave her a copy of her indictment. He also indicated that a hearing was scheduled in early August.

Between July 31 and August 4, 2020, Ms. Xie’s lawyer kept calling judge Song Tao to get information about her hearing. The judge refused to answer his call, accept his Power of Attorney or allow him to review her case document. To date, Ms. Xie’s lawyer still doesn’t know any details of her court proceedings. She is also denied family visitation by the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison.

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