Mr. Xie Guichen and Ms. Tan Chengxiang from Jilin Province Unjustly Sentenced to Long Prison Terms

Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Xie Guichen and Ms. Tan Chengxiang from Shulan City, Jilin Province, were arrested on July 30th, 2012, for distributing Shen Yun Performing Arts [a world-class traditional Chinese cultural show] DVDs. They were detained for about six months. Mr. Xie was so badly tortured that he had to be sent to a hospital for treatment. The police forbade the practitioners' families from visiting them. Their families recently learned that Mr. Xie had been sentenced to 10 years in prison and Ms. Tan to 8 years.

Arrested and Denied Family Visits

Mr. Xie Guichen from Senshu Village and Ms. Tan Chengxiang from Xinfeng Village distributed Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs to villagers in Gangzi Village on July 30th, 2012. Village head Wang Liping reported them to the police. Baiqi Town Police Station head Cao Tiesheng, deputy head Yang Chunrong, and two other officers arrested the practitioners and ransacked their homes. Mr. Xie has been held in Nanshan Detention Centre in Shulan City, and Ms. Tan in Jilin City Detention Centre.

Because of the brutal physical abuse and torture Mr. Xie was subjected to during his detention, he lost consciousness several times.

As a result of the abuse Mr. Xie developed symptoms of uraemia on August 13th, 2012. His family went to visit him in the detention centre, but officials there wouldn't let them see him. They told the family that Mr. Xie was hospitalized and demanded that they pay his medical expenses. But when Mr. Xie's family went to the hospital, he was not there, so they went to local police department to demand his release. Police chief Chai Xiaodong told them that they did not need to bother with it, and that the police department officials would handle the case at the right time. He refused to tell the family where Mr. Xie was being held.

When people heard how Mr. Xie had been persecuted and how the regime officials were creating difficulties for his family, hundreds of local people showed their support by signing a petition with their signatures and fingerprints. The family submitted the petition letters to the appropriate government departments to seek help, but they still have not been allowed to see Mr. Xie.

Covertly Sentenced to Prison

Mr. Xie's family went to the police department on January 22nd, 2013, to find out how Mr. Xie's case was coming along. An officer told them that it had already been submitted to the court. After the family's persistent questioning, he told them that the court officials had already sentenced the two practitioners. Mr. Xie was given a 10-year prison term, and Ms. Tan, an 8-year prison term.

Mr. Xie's family went to the courthouse and called Judge Han Zhongxia on the phone. They asked the judge why the family had not been informed about the trial. Judge Han said that there was no need to inform them, that the presence of the parties concerned was adequate. She also told the family that the outcome of the trial had been forwarded to Jilin City Intermediate Court. She also told the family that Mr. Xie did not accept the verdict and wanted to appeal.

Mr. Xie Guichen's family strongly requested that the court officials present the recording and video of the trial of Mr. Xie and Ms. Tan, and to present a legal basis for their arrests and sentencing; otherwise, everything the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials did in handling the case was illegal.