(Minghui.org) A Falun Gong practitioner was given a four-year sentence for suing former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong and causing her great suffering during the past 18 years.
Police in Daye City arrested Ms. Zhu Xixia in November 2015, interrogated her, and ransacked her home. After detaining her for a month, the prosecutor issued an official arrest warrant on December 8, 2015. She was taken to a detention center and forced to perform labor-intensive work.
The authorities tried to prevent Ms. Zhu's lawyers from representing her. Her trial, scheduled for May 6, 2016, was canceled just a day before the scheduled time, just when her lawyer arrived from out of town. The court tried to reschedule the trial for July 6, but her lawyers were unavailable. It was rescheduled for July 15, and only one of her lawyers could attend.
Two days before the trial, the judge at Daye City Court called Ms. Zhu's lawyer and claimed that he would have sentenced her to probation and immediate release had she pleaded guilty.
The judge rendered Ms. Zhu's sentence in March 2017, eight months after the trial. She was given four years in prison and a 5,000 yuan fine. Ms. Zhu appealed, but the Huangshi City Intermediate Court upheld the original sentence without a hearing. On July 13, she was transferred to Wuhan Woman's Prison without the knowledge of her family.
Ms. Zhu's parents later learned of her whereabouts but was denied a family visit on August 8.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
In its “registration system reform opinions,” the Supreme People's Court in China claimed that it would guarantee the registration and processing of all complaints filed. This new policy was to take effect on May 1, 2015.
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