(Minghui.org) A woman from northeast China filed an appeal when sentenced to 20 months in prison, asserting that her sentencing was unjust persecution by the Communist regime for her belief.
Ms. Zhang Lanjun from Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province has been practicing Falun Dafa since 2010. She regained good health and spiritual peace after following this mind and body practice. She is known for her kindness and for selflessly taking care of her mother and mother-in-law who were both incapacitated from strokes.
The Chinese Communist Party banned Falun Dafa in 1999. Ms. Zhang told people the facts about the practice, attempting to dispel the government’s slanderous claims.
She and another three practitioners were reported to the police on April 24, 2016 while talking to people about Falun Dafa in a village. Police came and arrested them.
Police ransacked her home the same night. They confiscated her computer, mobile phones, and other personal property. The prosecutors later claimed them as “evidence” of her “crime.” Police also found other Falun Dafa practitioners in her phone's contacts and retrieved her prior phone calls. They arrested another 13 practitioners on May 8.
Ms. Zhang has been detained at the Qitaihe Detention Center since then. The prosecutors tried to get her to admit her “crime” by threatening to have her daughter and her brother fired from their jobs. The detention center's Deputy Director Zhang Jianfeng also slapped her in the face.
Ms. Zhang was placed on trial on April 27, 2017. Her family hired two attorneys to defend her innocence.
Seeing Ms. Zhang’s weakened state as she walked into the courtroom, her mother broke down crying. The judge asked her relatives to remove her mother from the courtroom and continued the trial.
During the trial, Ms. Zhang's attorneys questioned the validity of the prosecutors' “evidence” and rebutted their claims.
Ms. Zhang was notified on July 4 that the court sentenced her to 20 months in prison.
Ms. Zhang decided to file an appeal. The director of the detention center tried to talk her out of the appeal, but she refused to give in. Ms. Zhang's appeal case is at the Qitaihe Municipal Intermediate Court.
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Qitaihe, Heilongjiang Province: 10 Still Detained for Their Faith, Face Uphill Battle
Lawyers Overcome Difficulties to Meet with Their Falun Gong Practitioner Clients
