(Minghui.org) A Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, resident was sentenced to four years in prison in July 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Wang Shulan was arrested on May 18, 2023 and released on bail on June 5. She was given one year of house arrest weeks later, before being indicted for her faith. She stood trial on July 20 and was convicted at the end of the hearing. It’s unclear when she will be taken back into custody to serve time.
Details of Ms. Wang’s Arrest and Prosecution
Ms. Wang went to a market on the morning of May 18, 2023 and talked to a fellow shopper, a man in his 70s, about Falun Gong. A woman in her 40s overheard the conversation and grabbed Ms. Wang and the man. The man managed to get away but another person joined the middle-aged woman and held tight to Ms. Wang. It turned out they were both community workers and had reported Ms. Wang to the police.
Many people gathered around to see what was going on. Ms. Wang told them about the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong. Before long, a police car came and two officers jumped out. Ms. Wang refused to go with them and they dragged her to their cruiser and drove to the Xinghuakuang Police Station.
Acting captain An Bole of Chengzihe District Police Department’s Domestic Security Office and his officers Wang Qiang and Wang Dawei picked Ms. Wang up from the police station and took her to the police department.
Captain An next raided Ms. Wang’s home and confiscated several Falun Gong books, a portrait of the founder of Falun Gong and a few flash drives. He then took her to a local detention center at around 4 that afternoon and threatened her, “I’ll for sure get you jailed this time around!”
Ms. Wang went on a hunger strike at the detention center. On the fourth day, An led more than a dozen officers and took her to Jixi City Central Hospital for force-feeding. She refused to comply and they carried her around. They handcuffed her to a hospital bed and pressed her down, while medical workers force fed her.
On June 5, the police took Ms. Wang to the hospital a third time for force-feeding. After the session was done, the hospital doctors told the police they could no longer force feed her or else she’d be in grave danger. The detention center also opposed further force-feeding for fear of bearing liabilities. Only then did An release her on bail that afternoon.
An soon submitted Ms. Wang’s case to the Jidong County Procuratorate. Around June 2023, officer Wu Xingda took her to the Jidong County Court to attend a hearing. She refused to go inside the courtroom. The court leadership decided to cancel the hearing and put Ms. Wang on one-year house arrest while she was awaiting trial.
Ms. Wang refused to take the house arrest notice and was driven home. Wu told her husband that she needed to go to the court one more time and would be fine after the court issued a ruling. She later received an indictment in the mail issued by the Jidong County Procuratorate.
On July 20, the police took Ms. Wang to Jidong County Court to attend a hearing. She was not notified of the session in advance.
Prosecutor Liu Huifang recommended a prison sentence of 3.5-4 years. Judge Li Li sentenced Ms. Wang to four years at the end of the hearing and reprimanded her for having a bad attitude and refusing to admit her “guilt” for practicing Falun Gong.
According to insiders, acting captain An pushed for the quick sentencing of Ms. Wang because he wanted to use it as political capital to become captain of the domestic security office.
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