(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old retired police supervisor in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province filed a petition to the Supreme People’s Court on August 1, 2023, seeking to remove her wrongful conviction from her record.
Ms. Cheng Lan served one year in prison for upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Since no enacted law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, Ms. Cheng has never wavered in defending her constitutional right to freedom of belief since she was arrested in August 2019.
She first filed complaints against the two prosecutors for indicting her without any legal basis and then appealed to the local intermediate court after she was sentenced to prison. Her appeal was rejected on February 20, 2021 and she was ordered to serve time in prison. After she was released in November 2021, she filed a motion with the same intermediate court to reconsider her case. When that was rejected on June 22, 2022, she turned to the provincial high court, which ruled against her on July 13, 2023. She then petitioned to the highest court in China two weeks later.
Complaints Against Prosecutors Ignored
Ms. Cheng was arrested on August 29, 2019 and released on bail on October 21 that year.
On May 9, 2020, Ms. Cheng was summoned by Chen Lifang, a prosecutor at Xuanwu District Procuratorate. Chen told Ms. Cheng that higher-ups had reviewed the evidence submitted by the police against her and decided that it was enough to sentence her to prison. Chen promised to recommend a suspended sentence if Ms. Cheng agreed to renounce Falun Gong, but if she refused, then there was no need for them to keep talking.
Ms. Cheng appealed to Chen on May 20, 2020 to re-evaluate the evidence submitted by the police, only to see Chen ignore her request, indict her the next day, and submit her case to the Xuanwu District Court.
Ms. Cheng refused to acknowledge the indictment. She filed complaints against Chen and her assistant Liu Songmao to Nanjing City Procuratorate on June 20 and then sent another copy to Nanjing City Intermediate Court on June 26.
She accused prosecutor Chen of not verifying the facts and indicting her without a legal basis for the charges. On June 29, 2020, Ms. Cheng received a reply from the Nanjing City Procuratorate that they had forwarded her complaint to the Xuanwu District Procuratorate for them to investigate the case themselves.
The Xuanwu District Procuratorate ignored Ms. Cheng’s complaints.
Sentenced to Prison and Appeal Rejected
The Xuanwu District Court held a hearing of Ms. Cheng’s case on August 12, 2020 and notified her on December 16, 2020 to pick up her verdict. She went to the court the following day and never returned home. Her family later learned that she was taken to the Nanjing City Detention Center on the same day to serve a one-year term. She was also fined 10,000 yuan.
On December 24, 2020, Ms. Cheng appealed to the Nanjing City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original verdict on February 20, 2021.
Ms. Cheng was transferred to the Jiangsu Province Women’s prison in nearby Zhenjiang City on April 19, 2021. She was monitored by the inmates around the clock, forced to stand or sit on a small stool for long hours without moving, and forced to work without pay. The inmates and guards also constantly verbally abused her and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong.
When Ms. Cheng was released on November 15, 2021, she was emaciated, having lost nearly 30 lbs in one year.
Motion to Reconsider Case Rejected
Ms. Cheng filed the motion to reconsider her case with the Nanjing City Intermediate Court on March 13, 2022. She also copied the documents to agencies that were involved in her sentencing, including the Xuanwu District Court, Xuanwu District Procuratorate, and the Qixia District Police Department.
Ms. Cheng received the intermediate court’s response on June 28, 2022. The court rejected her motion because she “failed to establish sufficient reason for her request.” The court didn’t address the trial court and the intermediate court’s lack of legal basis in sentencing her and rejecting her initial appeal. No judge’s name was shown on the response as required by law. The response only bore the seal of the intermediate court and was dated on June 22, 2022.
Appeal to Provincial High Court Turned Down
Ms. Cheng mailed her appeal to the Jiangsu Province High People’s Court on August 1, 2022 and received a notice on September 22 that year. The high court said her materials were incomplete and her complete application must be turned in within thirty days. She gathered all required materials and resubmitted her appeal on September 26, 2022.
She received a response from the high court on July 18, 2023, saying that she failed to establish sufficient reasons to overturn her wrongful conviction. The notice was dated July 13, 2023 and only bore the official seal of the high court (with a judge’s name as required by law).
The high court requested signature confirmation that she had received the mail. Ms. Cheng also added a note in the confirmation. She reiterated what she had said to all the other agencies she had appealed to, that was, practicing Falun Gong is totally lawful in China.
Petitioning to the Highest Court in China
On August 1, 2023, Ms. Cheng filed a petition to Zhang Jun, the chief justice and president of the Supreme People’s Court (who just took office in March 2023, after serving five years as the president of Supreme People’s Procuratorate). She also submitted yet another appeal to the Nanjing City Intermediate Court. Despite the repeated defeats in her battle to seek justice for herself, Ms. Cheng is determined to keep up her efforts because she broke no law in practicing her faith and should never have served time in prison.
Related Reports:
Former Police Officer Files Motion to Reconsider a Wrongful Sentence for Practicing Falun Gong
Retired Police Supervisor Likely Imprisoned for Her Faith
Retired Police Supervisor Defends Her Innocence in Practicing Falun Gong
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