(Minghui.org) A 79-year-old Chongqing woman returned home in a wheelchair on the evening of February 27, 2023, after serving a six-month term in an out-of-town prison for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Lei Changrong was out on June 2, 2021, when eight officers, including local police and their counterparts from Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, more than 1,000 miles away, stopped her. The Suzhou police asked her if she had mailed a letter to Zhang Neng, a prosecutor at the Wujiang District Procuratorate in Suzhou, urging him not to persecute Falun Gong. They ransacked Ms. Lei’s home but released her on bail that day.
Four officers from Suzhou showed up at Ms. Lei’s home on the afternoon of August 30, 2022. They held her in the local Chongqing police station overnight and took her to Suzhou the next day.
Ms. Lei took a fall while using the restroom on the evening of September 4. She was taken to emergency care but became incapacitated and was unable to move. Despite her condition, the police carried her to the Wujiang District Court the next day for a hearing.
Ms. Lei managed to testify in her own defense. She argued that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong in China and that the Chinese publication bureau had lifted the ban on Falun Gong books some time ago. She said she didn’t violate any law by mailing a letter about Falun Gong. She challenged the prosecutor to present the legal basis for charging her, but the prosecutor didn’t respond.
The following day, the judge sentenced Ms. Lei to six months with a 1,000-yuan fine. She expressed her intent to appeal the verdict.
Ms. Lei was taken to the Suzhou City No.4 Detention Center on September 9. Two inmates had to carry her whenever she needed to use the restroom. By doing the Falun Gong exercises, however, she recovered quickly and was able to sit up in ten days. The guards transferred her to another cell, where she wasn’t allowed to do the exercises anymore.
Ms. Lei demanded to appeal the verdict. A guard brought her three pieces of paper on September 10. After she wrote, “I didn’t violate the law. I’m innocent and I’m appealing the sentence,” the guard took the paper away. He said that he would turn in the paper for now and she could write up a more detailed appeal in the future. But when Ms. Lei asked for paper to write her appeal weeks later, the guards denied her request and said the judge was reviewing her appeal.
Wang Zhen, the lawyer appointed by the intermediate court to represent her, visited Ms. Lei in the detention center on November 7, 2022. Wang said to her, “You’ve been here for several months. As soon as you plead guilty, you can go home.” Ms. Lei insisted that she didn’t do anything wrong.
The lawyer asked Ms. Lei where she got the Falun Gong materials she mailed to prosecutor Zhang Neng. She answered, “It doesn’t matter where. It’s totally legal. I hope you will seek justice for me. You will be blessed for your kindness.”
The intermediate court informed Ms. Lei in early January 2023 that her appeal was denied.
Perpetrators’ information:
Huang Xiufeng (黄秀峰), prosecutor, Wujiang District ProcuratorateZhao Chengcheng (赵程程), presiding judge, Wujiang District CourtXin Yichun (辛以春), presiding judge, Suzhou City Intermediate Court
(More perpetrators’ information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related reports:
77-year-old Woman Facing Prison Sentence Detained Incommunicado 1,000 Miles Away From Home
Jiangsu Police Travel 1,000 Miles to Harass Chongqing Woman in Her 70s
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