(Minghui.org) A married couple in Guilin City, Guangxi Province, was recently sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
A group of officers knocked on the door of Mr. Xie Jianxin and Ms. Zhao Renyuan’s home around midnight on February 5, 2020, and said they were there to take their temperature. After Mr. Xie refused to open the door, the police broke in and arrested him and his wife. Their Falun Gong books and related materials were confiscated.
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’s family called the police again on February 15 and demanded to know their whereabouts. The police initially refused to reveal anything and insisted that they wait for the detention notice. But after the family asked if they were hiding something and demanded that they be able to send some winter clothes and bedding for the couple, the police relented and revealed that they were detained at the Jinjilinglu No.2 Detention Center.
When the couple’s family contacted the detention center, however, the guards repeatedly denied their visitation request. The detention center guards also blocked Ms. Zhao’s lawyer from visiting her and refused to pass his letter to her when he went to get her signature on a power of attorney form on June 18.
The couple was tried by the Xiufeng District Court through a video conference on November 6, 2020. Their lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for them. They also testified in their own defense and talked about how they had benefited from practicing Falun Gong.
Mr. Xie said he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in his 30s, a chronic bowel condition that often caused severe gastrointestinal bleeding. He had two operations and still had frequent blood in his stool. He was so weak that he couldn’t lift his preschool daughter. He had to quit his job and retire early. But three months after he took up Falun Gong in 1995, his disease was healed, and he has been healthy since.
On December 1, the judge sentenced the couple to four years with a combined fine of 10,000 yuan. Ms. Zhao has appealed her case with the Guilin City Intermediate Court.
It’s reported that Mr. Xie is having gastrointestinal bleeding again in the detention center. His family is very worried about his health.
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”
