Four Chongqing Practitioners Receive Heavy Sentences for Exposing Rape

Falun Gong practitioners Mr. He Mingli (41 years old), Ms. Ma Shifang (56 years old), Mr. Yao Rongxuan (40 years old) and Ms. Wei Xiaoming (42 years old) were arrested for exposing the rape of Ms Wei Xingyan (see below). On September 7, 2004, the Jiulongpo District Court in Chongqing City sentenced the four practitioners to prison. Mr. He received a sentence of 13 years of prison, while the other three practitioners received 7 years each. The so-called charge was "Utilizing an evil [slanderous word omitted] to hinder the enforcement of law." The practitioners filed an appeal as they thought the verdict was unjust. On November 15, 2004, the Intermediate Court of Chongqing City ruled that the original verdict is to be carried out. Both courts claimed that the Wei Xingyan incident was fabricated by practitioners.

In addition to the above four practitioners, other local practitioners including Chen Shumin, Lu Zhengqi, Yuan Qiuyan, Li Jian and Yin Yan, were also arrested and sentenced for their role in helping to expose the Wei Xingyan incident.

Background information: Ms. Wei Xingyan, 28, was a graduate student majoring in High Voltage Direct Current Transmission and Simulation Technology at Chongqing University. On May 11, 2003, she was arrested for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and sent to the "610 Office" (1) of Chongqing City to be interrogated. On the night of May 13, 2003, a policeman raped her in front of two female detainees at the Baihelin Detention Centre. Since then, Ms. Wei went on a hunger strike to protest the brutality of the police. Later, the police transferred her to an unknown location. After the rape of Wei Xingyan was exposed over the Internet, the "610 Office" sealed all documents about Wei Xingyan at Chongqing University. They also ordered the university to claim that there was no such student named Wei Xingyan and that there was no such major of High Voltage Direct Current Transmission and Simulation Technology. The "610 Office" also launched a mass arrest of local practitioners, as revenge for their exposing the truth.

(1) "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/1/29/94456.html