(Minghui.org) A 60-year-old resident of Xichang City, Sichuan Province, was arrested on July 15, 2022, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.
Ms. Yu Hongying was healthy before her arrest but developed extremely high blood pressure in detention. The local detention center did not notify the court of her medical condition as required by law, and she was made to stand trial on June 1, 2023. Her lawyers requested that the hearing be halted upon noticing that she looked very ill, but their request was denied. They then went on to defend her innocence in exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Arrest
On February 28, 2022, the Xichang Police Station of the Xichang Railway Police Department received a letter addressed to the police chief and deputy chief. The letter contained two stories, one about some police officers who protected Falun Gong practitioners upon learning about the illegality of the persecution, and another about Falun Gong practitioners’ efforts in spreading the goodness of Falun Gong.
Since “Falun Gong” was mentioned in the letter, the Domestic Security Office of the Xichang Railway Police Department deemed it a piece of “anti-CCP” propaganda. They went all out to investigate who had mailed the letter. They pored over surveillance footage captured at all post offices in Xichang City and determined that Ms. Yu and Ms. Song Pingxiu were the main “suspects.”
The police began to monitor the two Falun Gong practitioners and arrested them four months later on July 15, 2022, when they were distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. While Ms. Song was released on bail after being interrogated, Ms. Yu saw her arrest formally approved, and she has since remained at Xichang City Detention Center.
Health Declines in Detention
Ms. Yu developed high blood pressure after her arrest, but her lawyers didn’t learn of it until they visited her. She said she was given hypertension medications but that they didn’t work. During the Chinese New Year in late January 2023, she was taken to Liping Hospital for treatment, but her blood pressure remained high.
The guards ordered Ms. Yu’s cellmates to testify in writing that she had been given medications but that her blood pressure remained high. The detention center did not want to bear responsibility for her medical condition.
A doctor who examined Ms. Yu diagnosed her with labile hypertension (blood pressure fluctuating far more than usual). He warned that her life may be in danger if her blood pressure suddenly shot up to extremely high levels due to certain triggers, such as stress or abuse.
In February 2023, Ms. Yu decided to stop receiving treatments since nothing seemed to work. The guards forced her to write a waiver saying that she’d be fully responsible for any consequences that may arise out of her decision to decline further medical attention.
The detention center never revealed her condition to other parties involved in her case, including the police, the procuratorate, the court, her lawyers, and her family. The presiding judge said she knew nothing about Ms. Yu’s medical condition when her lawyers brought it up during her hearing.
Preliminary Hearing
A preliminary hearing of Ms. Yu’s case was held in Xichang City Court at 9 a.m. on June 1, 2023. The participants included Ms. Yu’s two lawyers, two people from the Xichang Railway Transport Procuratorate (Pan Hui, chief prosecutor and Party secretary, and Wang Wei, director of the First Division), and three women from the Second Court of Chengdu Railway Transport (Chen Qi, vice president and presiding judge in charge of Ms. Yu’s case, and assistant judges Chen Hui and Chen Xiaorong).
At the lawyers’ request, all prosecution witnesses attended the preliminary hearing. Deputy chief Chen Lan and officer Alaiergu from the Xichang Station Police Station, as well as a few other witnesses, presented fabricated testimonies against Ms. Yu. Her lawyers refuted their false allegations against her and successfully got the judges to agree to drop two of the witnesses from the trial.
Defending Ms. Yu’s Innocence at Her Hearing
Ms. Yu stood trial at Xichang City Court on June 1, 2023. Her younger sister and their 85-year-old mother were in the audience.
Ms. Yu looked very ill, and she told her lawyers that her limbs were numb and her head felt dizzy. The lawyers requested a halt of the trial, but presiding judge Chen Qi signaled to continue the court hearing.
Ms. Yu was charged with violating Article 300 of the Criminal Law, which covers the use of a cult organization to undermine law enforcement.
The prosecution evidence included the letter that Ms. Yu allegedly mailed to the Xichang Police Station and the Falun Gong informational materials she distributed on the day of her arrest. Her lawyers pointed out that none of the surveillance videos showed that Ms. Yu ever mailed out the letter. While she did distribute the materials, she did not cause any harm to any individual or society as a whole, much less undermine law enforcement. Additionally, no law in China has ever criminalized Falun Gong. Her lawyers argued that Article 300 violated the principle of the separation of church and state, and that no government, including the Chinese communist regime, is qualified to determine which religion or belief system is a cult.
The prosecutor accused Ms. Yu of being a repeat offender since she was once jailed for practicing Falun Gong. Her lawyers argued that her previous imprisonment should never have happened because she was merely exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Past Persecution
Ms. Yu retired from Panxi Geological Brigade and lives in the courtyard of the 218 Geological Brigade of the Ministry of Nuclear Industry on Chang’an Middle Road, Xichang City.
She used to suffer from depression, anxiety, an overactive bladder, and an abscess at the meatus of the urethra. Her family couldn’t afford to seek comprehensive treatments for all her conditions. The physical and mental pain also caused her to have a bad temper and lose hope in life. She felt empty and numbed herself by indulging in gambling despite her family’s financial difficulty.
Her fate changed in May 2009 when a friend gave her a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main teaching of Falun Gong, and a DVD containing instructions for Falun Gong exercises. She read the book and couldn’t put it down. She started doing Falun Gong exercises and felt better by the day. Three months later, she tossed out all her medications, as she had fully recovered. She also became upbeat and happy. Her family was amazed and all supported her practice of Falun Gong.
Ms. Yu felt compelled to share her story with others and debunk the CCP’s lies defaming the practice. She began to use various means to raise awareness of the persecution but was arrested on July 19, 2019. Six other local practitioners were also arrested around that time. The seven of them were all sentenced to prison by Xichang City Court on December 9, 2020.
Ms. Yu was given 1.5 years and fined 6,000 yuan. After she finished serving time in January 2021, she faced constant harassment from her local street committee and property management company, who were instructed by the police to monitor her.
Ms. Yu also appealed her verdict, but the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture Intermediate Court ruled to uphold her prison sentence on March 2, 2021.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Chengdu Railway Transportation Second CourtAddress: Building A3, District D, Tianfu New Economic Industrial Park, No. 123, West Section of Hupan Road, Tianfu New District, Chengdu, Zip Code 610000Phone: +86-28-81255631Judge handling the case: +86-28-81255636Presiding Judge: Chen QiAssistant Judge: Chen Hui +86-18181917808Assistant Judge: Chen XiaorongClerk: Su Yan +86-19113530212
Xichang Railway Transport ProcuratoratePhone: +86-834-8623280Address: Chengdu Railway Transport Procuratorate Branch, No. 32, North Second Section, First Ring Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan ProvinceEmail: xctlysjcy@163.comZip Code: 610081Those in charge of Ms. Yu’s casePan Hui: chief prosecutorWang Wei: Director of the First ProcuratorateProcuratorial Assistant: Xu Xue
Domestic Security Office of Xichang Railway Police DepartmentAddress: No. 1 Jiali Road, High-tech Zone, Chengdu CityDeputy Chief Ou: +86-28-86447546; +86-13908153395Officers involved in Ms. Yu’s case: Li Yu and Yang Weizhong
Xichang City Detention CenterAddress: Xiaomiao Township, Xichang City, Zip Code: 615000Phone: +86-834-2597428Guards: Song Jianping, Yang Hongping, Zhang YueDirectors: two of them both surnamed YangDeputy Director: SongInstructors: Yang and Lu
Related Reports:
Five Sichuan Residents’ Motion to Reconsider Their Prison Sentences Accepted by Intermediate Court
Seven Sichuan Residents Sentenced to Prison, Families in Distress
Six Falun Gong Practitioners and One Spouse Stand Trial
Four Sichuan Residents Indicted for Their Faith, File Appeals to Have Cases Dropped
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