Ms. Xu Cuiyun from Hebei Province Sentenced to Three Years of Imprisonment

Name: Xu Cuiyun
Gender: Female
Age: 44
Address: Dingguantun Village, Linnancang Town, Yutian County, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 9th, 2010

Most Recent Place of Detention: Yutian County Detention Centre
City: Yutian County
Province: Hebei Province
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, torture, extortion, physical restraint, home ransacked, interrogation, detention
Defence Attorney: Zhang Chuanli

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Xu Cuiyun, 44, is a resident of Linnancang Town. She was arrested and tortured in January 2010, then put on trial in a Yutian County Court and sentenced to three years of imprisonment on May 28th. She is appealing her case.

Ms. Xu was arrested by officers Zhang Jindong, Zhang Lianhong, and others from the Linxi Police Station when she was posting a flier about the indictment of former Chinese head Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan by an international court on the night of January 9th.

At the station, the police tried to get a "confession" from Ms. Xu by torturing her all day long on January 10th. She was locked up in an iron cage and sprayed with a strong corrosive powder on her face and nose by police officers Liang Chao and Chen Jindong, who also used a towel sprayed with the same powder to cover her face, as they dragged her around until she lost consciousness. Policeman Haitao viciously hit her face, and it started bleeding. Police officer Li Junyong also participated in the persecution.

One of the police officers from Linnancang Town later that day found out who Ms. Xu was and where she lived. The police from Linxi Town then went to her home and ransacked it. They also confiscated her personal belongings and arrested her husband. He was released only after paying a fine of 10,000 yuan¹.

On May 28th, Ms. Xu was put on trial at the Yutian County Court. The people present at her trial included Tang Lianhua, president of Yutian County First Criminal Court, judges Sang Zetao and Zhang Baocun, public prosecutor Meng Qingguo, court secretary Liu Liying, and Mr. Zhang Chuanli, Ms. Xu's lawyer. He requested that she be immediately released, and presented a "not guilty" defence. He pointed out that it is legal to practise Falun Gong since there isn't a law in China that identifies it as a "cult." Furthermore, Falun Gong is not included as one of the fourteen so-called "cult organisations" currently maintained by the Department of Public Security.

After listening to the defence lawyer's argument, the prosecutor was speechless. To prevent the defence lawyer from continuing, judge Tang Lianhua didn't allow further questions to be asked. The court adjourned without sentencing Ms. Xu; however on July 2nd, officials at the court sentenced Ms. Xu to three years in prison.

Responsible personnel's phone numbers (Area Code: 86-315):
Yutian County 610 Office: 6130610
Yutian County 610 Office manager: 13832969400, 6118766 (office)
Tang Jianhua, president of Yutian Country First Criminal Court: 6162097, 13933323423 (mobile)
State Security Brigade (police handling the case): 13613336006
Linxi Police Station: 0315-6574110
Shu Zhisheng, police chief: 13832987955
Police officers involved in the case: Zhang Jindong, Zhang Lianhong, Liang Chao, Li Junyong, and Hai Tao

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/7/9/226715.html