(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhong Qilan, 68, from Tianjin was sentenced to three years and fined 12,000 yuan in November 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
This is not the first time that Ms. Zhong has been targeted for her faith. She was previously given two years of forced labor following her arrest in late 2000.
Targeted for Writing to the Police
Ms. Zhong was reported for distributing letters she wrote which exposed the persecution of Falun Gong in April 2022. While the Gaocun Township Police Station did not immediately arrest her when the police received the tip about her, they started building a case against her. They previously arrested her in 2000, and she was sentenced to two years of forced labor.
The police station dispatched several officers to raid Ms. Zhong’s home in May 2022, but they did not produce a search warrant. She had more than ten copies of her hand-written letters that exposed the persecution so she gave them to the police hoping that they would read them and understand the illegality of the persecution. They took her to the police station and officer Liang Chuan (+86-13612123452) interrogated her.
Liang said at the end of the interrogation that Ms. Zhong could call him any time if she had any questions. He then let her go. She returned to the police station a few days later hoping to talk to him more about Falun Gong. Liang said he must seek permission from higher-ups first before he could talk to her. He told her to go home and wait for his call. After a few days she did not hear from him, so she wrote him a long letter, urging him and his fellow officers not to follow the communist regime to persecute law-abiding Falun Gong practitioners like her. She then hand delivered the letter to him.
Summoned to Police Station in June 2022
In June 2022, Ms. Zhong was caught on surveillance cameras distributing Falun Gong informational materials in a residential complex in Gaocun Township. Officer Liang soon summoned her and asked if she was the woman in the footage. She acknowledged it and again urged Liang to not take part in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. He let her go after the interrogation.
Arrested in August 2022 and Released on Bail Hours Later
A few officers seized Ms. Zhong from her home on August 1, 2022 and took her to the Gaocun Township Police Station. She was released on bail that night, after her daughter was forced to pay 5,000 yuan bail bond for her.
Taken to Police Station Again in May 2023
Led by Chen Weiguo (security director of Jianchang Village), about five officers from the Gaocun Township Police Station raided Ms. Zhong’s home on May 23, 2023. They briefly showed a search warrant but did not allow her to read it.
After the raid, the police took Ms. Zhong to the police station. She refused to sit in a metal chair when they ordered her to because she said she was not a criminal.
The interrogating officer accused her of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners. She refuted what he said, and said no law criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it a cult.
The officer asked if she distributed Falun Gong informational materials again since August 2022. He then ordered her to sign the interrogation records. When she refused he said she could just write, “I refuse to sign.” She did not comply. He then ordered her to sign a summon notice and a released-on-bail notice. She again refused to sign anything. He signed all the paperwork himself before having another officer drive her home.
Request to Not Indict Her After Case Submitted to Procuratorate in June 2023
The Gaocun Township Police Station officers took Ms. Zhong to the Wuqing District Procuratorate around June 9, 2023 to sign her case file. She proceeded to submit a request to the chief prosecutor and the prosecutor assigned to her case on June 18, 2023, urging them to drop her case and not indict her.
Taken Back Into Custody in June 2023 and Sentenced Months Later
The police arrested Ms. Zhong on June 21, 2023 and took her to the Wuqing District Detention Center. The Wuqing District Court sentenced her to three years in November 2023. The details of her indictment, trial, and sentencing remain to be investigated.
Two Years of Forced Labor
In her request to the Wuqing District Procuratorate to drop her case, Ms. Zhong also recounted her past persecution for practicing Falun Gong. She wrote that she was arrested by then chief Wang and officer Zheng Zhifang from the Gaocun Township Police Station around November 2000 for sliding paper slips containing Falun Gong information under the doors of local residents (a creative way to tell people about the persecution).
During the interrogation, Wang slapped Ms. Zhong in the face so hard that he knocked out five of her teeth and loosened her other teeth. Her face became so swollen that she couldn’t open her eyes. He also punched and kicked her all over her body, and shocked her with electric needles.
When she washed her face the next day, she couldn’t recognize the woman in the mirror. There were bruises on her forehead and one of her eyes was swollen shut.
By law, police can only hold a suspect in custody for at most 48 hours, but chief Wang held Ms. Zhong in the police station for ten days before taking her to a detention center. After an unknown amount of time there, she was given two years of forced labor.
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