(Minghui.org) A woman in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, was sentenced to three years on March 17, 2023, for mailing a letter to the new police chief, urging him not to persecute 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. Duan Guixiu was arrested on November 29, 2021, when she went out. Seven officers seized her and took her home. Without showing a search warrant, they confiscated her Falun Gong books, two cell phones, and two computers. The police accused her daughter of not cooperating with them, took her to the police station, too, and held her for a day. Hours after the daughter returned home, the police handed her Ms. Duan’s notice of criminal detention.
The police claimed that they arrested Ms. Duan because she wrote a letter to Guo Xiaohui, the newly-appointed chief of Huangdao Police Department, urging him not to participate in the persecution and advising him to protect practitioners if possible. The letter and the surveillance video of her mailing the letter were later collected by the police as evidence against Ms. Duan.
Prosecutor Pan Wei of the Huangdao District Procuratorate approved Ms. Duan’s arrest on December 14, 2021. Due to health issues, she was released on bail on January 7, 2022.
The police submitted Ms. Duan’s case to the procuratorate on April 26, 2022. She was indicted on July 19. The Huangdao District Court sentenced her to three years with a 20,000-yuan fine on March 17, 2023. She has decided to appeal the verdict.
Ms. Duan’s husband, Mr. Ma Lizhi, used to practice Falun Gong and credited the practice for curing his Hepatitis B. Fearing persecution, he stopped practicing and passed away in 2001. Ms. Duan raised her daughter by herself. Her daughter, now a college graduate, had started to work. Just as Ms. Duan was about to enjoy an easier life, she was arrested and sentenced for her faith.
Liu Liang (刘亮), judge, Huangdao District Court: +86-532-86975192Pan Wei (潘伟), prosecutor, Huangdao District Procuratorate: +86-532-83012356Wang Pengfei (王朋飞), officer, Yinzhu Police Station: +86-532-57786347
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)