Ms. Zhu Chunju from Fangzheng County Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

Name: Zhu Chunju
Gender: Female
Age: 58
Address: Tianmen Township, Fangzheng County, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 16th, 2011
Most recent place of Detention: Harbin City Second Detention Centre
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, extortion, trial

Ms. Zhu Chunju was taken away from her home by police on August 16th. It was recently reported that she has been sentenced to six years in prison. By the time her family was informed of her sentence, the deadline for appeal had passed.

On August 16th, around 10 a.m., Chief Lu Tongjin, Bai Wenjie, and Wang Lingchun from the Fangzheng Domestic Security Division, as well as an officer from the Tianmen Township Police Station, went to Ms. Zhu Chunju’s home. Without presenting any identification or search warrants, the police ransacked her home, taking a laptop and camera, Falun Gong books, and several hundred yuan¹ in cash. Ms. Zhu was arrested and taken to the Fangzheng Second Detention Centre. The police took her property back to her home on August 26th. They said that Ms. Zhu was not at the Fangzheng Second Detention Centre and her whereabouts were unknown.

On September 2nd, two officers from the Tianmen Township Police Station went to Ms. Zhu Chunju’s home and told her husband that Ms. Zhu had been “formally” arrested and was being detained in the Harbin Second Detention Centre.

Ms. Zhu’s husband learned on October 6th that her case had been submitted to the court. Her husband asked a Beijing human rights attorney to defend her. On October 10th, a court official called Ms. Zhu’s home, demanding that Ms. Zhu’s husband, Yang Zhongyou, tell their two daughters in Japan and Korea not to promote Falun Gong anymore.

Ms. Zhu was tried in the Fangzheng Court on October 26th. The trial was scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m, but actually began at 8:30 a.m. Armed policemen stood guard both inside and outside the courtroom. The attorney submitted a “Not guilty” plea for Ms. Zhu and requested she be released and all personal property returned to her. Prosecutor Zhang Jinming submitted fabricated evidence from the police department. He said Ms. Zhu graduated from elementary school; however, Ms. Zhu actually is uneducated. Zhang said Ms. Zhu posted Falun Gong materials and he had witnesses. However, no witness made an appearance at the trial. The prosecutor charged Ms. Zhu with undermining the law.

Judge Chen Hongyan said he would pass sentence on another day. Ms. Zhu’s family kept their eyes on the progress of her case and called the court many times, but no one responded. When they finally reached someone at the court on November 11th, they were told Ms. Zhu had been sentenced to six years in prison. However, they were not told which day the sentence was handed down. Chen Hongyan said it was his right not to inform the family and that the sentence letter had been mailed to the attorney.

Ms. Zhu Chunju and her husband, as well as their three children, started to practise Falun Gong in 1998. During the past decade, all three children were sent to forced labour camps. She and her husband were repeatedly detained. Everyone in the family was persecuted physically, mentally, and financially by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Related article:

“Arrest and Detention of Ms. Zhu Chunju from Fangzheng County, Heilongjiang Province”
http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/9/13/128072.html

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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/11/19/249588.html