(Minghui.org) A father and daughter in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, were recently sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Gong, while the family matriarch is already serving time for sharing the same faith.
Mr. Yin Hongwei received 4.5 years, and his daughter, Ms. Yin Li, received one year. Their prison sentencing was preceded by Mr. Yin’s wife, Ms. Zhou Chunling’s wrongful conviction in 2024. Ms. Zhou was arrested in November 2023 by officers from the Renli Street Police Station and the Hulan District Domestic Security Office. She was sentenced to three years by the Daowai District Court on April 22, 2024, and is now serving time at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison.
After arresting Ms. Zhou, the police started to monitor Mr. Yin. They harassed him several times, both at work and at home.
When Mr. Yin was going to work on December 19, 2024, several officers waiting downstairs arrested him and put a black hood over his head. They then snatched his key and raided his home. His daughter, Ms. Yin, in her early 20s, was also arrested at their shared residence. Mr. Yin’s cash, bank card, ID, and computer were confiscated.
The police also searched the home of Mr. Yin’s parents in the same apartment building. Upon discovering a Falun Gong book, they took Mr. Yin’s father, in his late 70s, to the police station and held him for a few hours. When Mr. Yin’s mother returned home from a walk outside, she was devastated to see her home in a mess and that her husband, son, and granddaughter were all arrested. Before she caught her breath, the police returned for another search. She was so terrified that she suffered a heart attack.
Mr. Yin and Ms. Yin were held at the Harbin City Detention Center. They were issued formal arrest warrants by the Daowai District Procuratorate in late January 2025 before the Chinese New Year.
During their trial by the Daowai District Court on June 19, 2025, their lawyers entered a not guilty plea for them.
The indictment stated that the police arrested Mr. Yin upon finding Falun Gong materials at his home during a “routine search” and “realized he practiced Falun Gong.” His lawyers refuted that the police knew long before the arrest that he was a Falun Gong practitioner, and they raided his home to collect “evidence” against him. The prosecutor and judge remained silent.
During Mr. Yin and Ms. Yin’s second hearing on August 14, 2025, the judge frequently interrupted the lawyers and Mr. Yin during their defense statements. One lawyer pointed out that the December 2024 arrests of his clients and many other Falun Gong practitioners and dissidents took place ahead of the Asian Winter Games held in Harbin in February 2025. In the name of “maintaining stability,” the authorities kept the victims in custody to prevent them from taking the opportunity to expose the human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party.
Instead of addressing the lawyer’s comment, the judge ordered him to be removed from the courtroom.
The judge later scheduled a third hearing (date unknown), but canceled it without providing any explanation. He recently sentenced Mr. Yin to 4.5 years and Ms. Yin to one year. Both of them are still held at the Harbin City Detention Center. Mr. Yin has appealed the verdict.
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Once Jailed for 10 Years, Fast Food Worker Stands Trial Again for Her Faith in Falun Gong
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