Jilin City: 7 Dead, 19 Sentenced, and 14 in Judicial Proceedings in 2015 for Their Belief in Falun Gong

In 2015, seven Falun Gong practitioners in Jilin City, Jilin Province died after years of persecution took a toll on their physical and mental health. In addition, 19 practitioners were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 to 8 years for refusing to renounce their faith in Falun Gong.

Seven practitioners were tried and are awaiting verdicts. Another seven were officially arrested and are facing trial.

7 Died as a Result of Persecution

Among the seven Falun Gong practitioners who died as a result of persecution, five of them were from Jilin City proper: Mr. Zhang Huande, Ms. Ni Yanping, Ms. Sun Qiufeng, Ms. Bao Lijuan and Ms. Bai Yun. Mr. Liu Jiang and Mr. Liu Yanlong were from Jiaohe City, which is administered by Jilin City.

Ms. Sun Qiufeng was arrested in 2003 for distributing information in her neighbourhood about the persecution of Falun Gong. She was held in a forced labour camp for one year and severely tortured. She was beaten and lost all of her teeth. Her health never recovered after she returned home. She died on November 9th, 2015, at age 71. Five months before she died, she filed a criminal complaint against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong.

Mr. Liu Yanlong used to be a high school teacher in Jiaohe City. He was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to four years in prison for practising Falun Gong. The living conditions in the prison were very poor, and Mr. Liu was forced to do hard labour. He contracted tuberculosis and was released in 2011 for medical treatment. Pressured by the authorities, his school fired him, so he had to support his family by doing odd jobs. His health deteriorated in 2014. Mr. Liu filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin on June 21st, 2015. He died a week later, at age 44.

19 Sentenced to Prison

A total of 19 practitioners were sentenced to an average of 3 years and 8 months in prison. Their terms ranged from 2 to 8 years. Seven of them were given 4 to 5 years of probation. Sixteen of them were among the 34 practitioners arrested over the course of two days in October 2013.

Before sentencing the defendants, court officials did their utmost to prevent the defence attorneys from representing their practitioner clients. Express mail sent by the attorneys were bounced back from the court with “No Such Person” on the envelopes. A judge refused to accept applications from "human rights lawyers." Lawyers were prevented from appearing in court to defend their clients.

Ms. Che Pingping, a 42-year-old college teacher, was sentenced to four years in prison. Mr. Zhu Yujun, a former prosecutor, was sentenced to five years. Ms. Jin Guolan was sentenced to four years in prison; her sister, Ms. Jin Guoqing, was sentenced to five years.

Mr. Han Fu was arrested in 2014. More than 400 people in his village signed a petition calling for his release, and his family hired a human rights lawyer to defend him. However, the court tried him without notifying his lawyer or family, and sentenced him to three years in prison.

Ms. Wang Junjie was sentenced to three and a half years for filing a criminal complaint against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. She was arrested on August 27th, 2015. Her lawyer was denied repeatedly when he tried to enter the Jiaohe City police department, the Procuratorate, and the court. The authorities even refused to disclose the names of the officials in charge of his client's case.

Ms. Wang Junjie was tried by Jiaohe City Court on December 14th. Neither her family nor her lawyer were notified beforehand. Her lawyer did not find out about the trial until he went to meet with her on December 17th.

A complete list of the practitioners sentenced and their terms:

Li Dequan (李德全): 8 years
Ms. Jin Guoqin (金国琴): 5 years
Zhu Yujun (朱玉军): 5 years
Ms. Che Pingping (车平平): 4 years
Ms. Jin Guolan (金国兰): 4 years
Li Dexiang (李德祥): 4 years
Wang Hongfang (王宏方): 4 years
Huang Xiuhuan (黄秀环): 3 years and 6 months
Ms. Wang Junjie (王俊杰): 3 years and 6 months
Deng Xiaobo (邓晓波): 3 years in prison with 5 years probation
Pan Ying (潘影): 3 years in prison with 5 years probation
Han Yongqiang (韩永强): 3 years in prison with 4 years probation
Jiang Guilin (江贵林): 3 years in prison with 4 years probation
Wang Zhenguang (王振广): 3 years in prison with 4 years probation
Jin Yanhua (金艳华): 2.5 years in prison with 4 years probation
Mr. Han Fu (韩福): 3 years
Ma Chi (马驰): 2 years and 10 months
Yang Yongmei (杨永梅): 2 years
Ms. Liu Ying (刘英): her exact sentence remains to be investigated, but she is currently serving probation

7 Tried and Awaiting Verdicts

Seven practitioners have been tried and are awaiting verdicts. They are Mr. Liu Xingrong, Ms. Liu Wenhua, Ms. Wang Wenjun, Ms. Li Xianying, Ms. Fu Junjuan, Ms. Fu Junli, and Ms. Lei Xiuxiang.

Ms. Wang Wenjun is in her 60s. She was arrested on June 17th, 2015, after she filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin. When the police interrogated her and demanded to know why she filed a complaint against Jiang Zemin, they threatened her by showing gruesome photos of human organs, alluding to the communist regime's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. Ms. Wang was beaten and shocked with an electric baton while she was detained.

When Ms. Wang's attorney visited the police station, an officer threatened him at gunpoint. During her trial on November 12th, 2015, only three members of her family were allowed into the courtroom. More than 20 police officers filled the gallery. Ms. Wang had to defend herself, because her attorney did not appear in court.

7 Facing Trial

The seven practitioners still facing trial are Mr. Xu Chuanlin, Mr. Liang Baofan, Ms. Wang Mingyan, Mr. Bai He, Ms. Xin Chunyan, Ms. Xin Chunrong, and Ms. Liang Yuling. Their arrests have been formally approved.

Mr. Bai He was arrested on July 23rd, 2015, after he filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin. According to Mr. Bai's lawyer, who met him on January 25th, 2016, his case had already been filed with Fengman District Court. Ms. Xin Chunyan, Ms. Xin Chunrong, and Ms. Liang Yuling were included in the same case, because the police found their complaints against Jiang Zemin in Mr. Bai's computer.

Mr. Bai used to work for the military. After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, because he refused to give up his belief, his employer put him under house arrest for more than a year and forced him to quit his job. After that, he was arrested three times, served two years of forced labor, and was severely tortured. Guards shocked him with five electric batons at the same time. His arms and legs were cuffed to a chair for an entire month.

Mr. Liang Baofan was arrested on June 17th, 2015, also for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin. The police refused to see Mr. Liang's attorney when he visited the police station on July 3 to get more information. Officers regularly harassed Mr. Liang's family after his arrest, forcing his wife and his daughter to leave home to avoid further persecution.