A lawyer has called for the public to pay attention to a disabled woman’s case before the final verdict of her second trial is delivered in December, saying she is the victim of the persecution of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) in China.
Niu Xiaona, is a permanently disabled woman from Harbin, a city in the northeastern province, Heilongjiang.
A Chinese court conducted a second trial of the Falun Gong adherent on Nov. 27. It was held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions..
On Sept. 29, she was sentenced by a local court to 15 years in prison and fined 1,000 yuan (about $139) for holding and producing copies of Falun Gong information. Niu appealed to the intermediate court in Heilongjiang.
A lawyer, using the pseudonym Yu, who is familiar with the matter explained his concerns to the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on Nov. 27.
Improved Health
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that includes meditative exercises and a set of moral teachings centered around the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It found immense popularity in China during the 1990s, which led to the Chinese communist regime deeming this a threat, and launching a nationwide suppression in 1999.Niu was diagnosed with a progressive type of rheumatoid arthritis in her sophomore year, 1996. The pain and the swollen joints once completely restricted her mobility.
She began practicing Falun Gong in 1997. Soon, her physical condition improved and she could manage her pain and conduct her daily chores with little assistance.
On Oct. 22, 2003, she was abducted by the police, subjected to seven days of interrogation and beatings, and a month of house arrest.
The court then sentenced her to 14 years imprisonment in Feb. 2004. She was imprisoned at home, with constant police surveillance, because of her illness.
During the house arrest, Niu continued to follow her faith and her physical condition was improving.
On April 19, 2021, the police once again abducted her and her mother, who is also a Falun Gong adherent.
When she was released on bail on July 9, 2021, she had lost more than 26 pounds in the 80 days of detention and her physical condition had worsened.
‘Ridiculous’ Verdict: Lawyer
Lawyer Yu described the verdict at Niu’s latest trial as “ridiculous.”He explained: “She was sentenced to three years imprisonment for holding and producing Falun Gong information in 2019 and 2021. But the court’s decision was on top of the previous 14-year term she served outside of prison, and the judge changed the jail sentence to 15 years and added a fine of 1,000 yuan.”
He was worried the imprisonment would cost her life considering the condition of her health.
Yu was hoping the media exposure would put pressure on the court to amend the verdict.
Wu Shaoping, a human rights lawyer living in the United States, told The Epoch Times on the 27th that a medical parole was reasonable for Niu’s case according to Chinese law.
However, the September verdict was made with no clear explanation of how the previous house arrest was granted without a legal basis. Therefore, “The verdict should be revoked or commuted according to law,” he said.
He further stressed, massive numbers of Falun Gong adherents have been arrested and sentenced based on the charge of “law violation,” in Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Law, but it is against the fact and the legality of the law itself.
There’s no legal basis for regarding the belief in Falun Gong or the spreading of Falun Gong information to be illegal; but Beijing constantly cooks up charges against the innocent people, according to Wu.
“It’s simply a political persecution,” he added.
