Ms. Wang Zhenxiu Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison, Her Brother and Husband Dead After Torture and Abuse

Ms. Wang Zhenxiu is a Falun Gong practitioner from Zibo City, Shandong Province. Since the Chinese communist regime began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, she and her family have been repeatedly imprisoned and tortured for their peaceful belief.

Most recently, after being arrested and held in the Zibo Detention Centre for nearly a year, Ms. Wang was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Zhangdian District Court.

The verdict was issued in late March 2013. However, Ms. Wang's family was not informed. When they went to the courthouse to request a written copy, as allowed by law, the judge refused to provide them with any documentation.

Ms. Wang has appealed to an intermediate court and plans to retain an attorney. Her family also filed a charge in the intermediate court, demanding that the parties involved in the fabrication of evidence used to indict Ms. Wang be punished in accordance with the law.

Husband and Brother Dead After Torture & Abuse

Ms. Wang has endured 14 years of relentless persecution for remaining steadfast in her spiritual faith. She has faced constant harrassment and threats from agents of the communist regime and once had to abandon her home in order to avoid arrest.

Her husband, Mr. Wang Jingkui, was sent to a forced labour camp twice and later died as a direct result of the torture and abuse he suffered there.

He was been arrested while visiting a friend, and without following any legal procedures, the police sent him to a forced labour camp. There, he was severely tortured and beaten, which led to decreased vision, hearing loss, and obvious scars on his head. Unable to recover from the brutal treatment, he passed away a few years later in 2010.

Ms. Wang's brother, Mr. Wang Xinbo, was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Zibo City Political and Legal Affairs Committee in 2003. Prison authorities sent him home in January 2006, on the verge of death as a result of torture. He died on February 10th, 2007, just a few weeks later.

Arrested without a Cause

On July 3rd, 2012, Ms. Wang was reported to the Zhangdian District Domestic Security Division by a woman who had been assigned to monitor her. The woman claimed that Falun Gong practitioners had visited her.

Police chief Xue Ping and other officers ransacked Ms. Wang's home and took her into custody. The plainclothes officers never showed any ID, just a blank search warrant.

Ms. Wang asked the police not to disturb her son, who was sick and in bed in the next room. Disregarding her plea, they broke into the son's room by kicking the door open. To make matters worse, they ordered him to go to the police department and sign for their confiscated belongings and on a search warrant that was made up afterwards.

Fabricated Evidence

The officers made a hasty count of the confiscated belongings. They did not check the content of the video discs taken into possession and even added empty discs to the total count.

Afterward, the police changed the number of confiscated items on their list by adding two words, “San Qian” (meaning three thousand), before the original amount, in an attempt to make a bigger case.

Unscrupulous Judge

Immediately after Ms. Wang's arrest, her son hired an attorney. The 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) responded by sending agents to harass the attorney.

The first court hearing for Ms. Wang's case was held on September 12th, 2012. Ms. Wang’s defense lawyer argued that she hadn't violated any laws and should be released. He also explained that none of the fabricated charges stood up to current laws.

In her own defence, Ms. Wang likewise told the court that abiding by Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the three main tenets of Falun Gong, was not a crime.

The prosecution offered no rebuttal to her lawyer’s defence, but the presiding judge and the clerk of the court took the side of the prosecution and completely disregarded the testimony favorable to Ms. Wang.

The judge then abruptly declared recess, saying that he would announce the verdict at a later date.

Unjust Verdict

Ms. Wang’s son appealed to the Procuratorate and judge Guo Jian about the inflated number of confiscated items multiple times. Each time, the officials promised to check and recount the items.

Despite this, however, the final verdict--a seven-year sentence--was still based on the altered list of confiscated items.

The court delivered the verdict on March 26th, 2013, without informing Ms. Wang’s family. The family inquired about the verdict repeatedly, but did not learn of the court decision until a week later.

When Ms. Wang’s son questioned the judge why he hadn't recounted the items, the judge replied, “We think it is unnecessary.”

Her son then asked why the written verdict showed that the trial had been recessed twice for a "supplementary investigation." The judge retorted angrily, “There’s no need to explain that to you!” In fact, it was done to hide the fact that Ms. Wang had been subjected to an extended detention, from July 2012 to March 2013.

Ms. Wang's "not guilty" plea was not included in the written verdict. Instead, the document included a fabricated claim that Ms. Wang’s son had been on site as a witness for the prosecution.