65-Year-Old Beijing Woman Loses Appeal and Is Admitted to Prison to Serve a 7.5-Year Term

(Minghui.org) A 65-year-old Beijing woman was recently admitted to Tianhe Prison after losing her appeal of a 7.5-year term on October 9, 2025.

Ms. Wei Suwen was sentenced and fined 16,000 yuan by the Dongcheng District Court on June 27, 2025, because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. The Beijing Second Intermediate Court ruled against her on October 9 without holding an open hearing.

 

Arrest

Ms. Wei was arrested on August 15, 2024, while taking a walk in Tiantan Park. Her daughter received a text message from officer Gu at 2:30 p.m. that day, saying that her mother was being held at the Tiantan Police Station. He also said they confiscated three cell phones from Ms. Wei, including two Lenovo phones “belonging to her” and a third (a Gold iPhone 6) belonging to her daughter.

About eight officers raided Ms. Wei’s home without showing any IDs or a search warrant. They put her on criminal detention at the Dongcheng District Detention Centre shortly after midnight. Officer Xu Zheng was in charge of the case.

The Dongcheng District Procuratorate approved Ms. Wei’s arrest on August 30. Prosecutor Miao Rongrong returned her case to the police on November 30 and the police resubmitted it on December 16, 2024.

 

Sentenced on Shaky Evidence

Ms. Wei was indicted on January 16, 2025. She appeared in the Dongcheng District Court on February 18. Judge Chen Chunsheng presided over the trial, assisted by judges Ma Lijun and Li Peizhong, clerk Sun Chenfei, and Zhong Zheng, an assistant to the judges.

Prosecutor Miao accused Ms. Wei of “using a cult organisation to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used by the communist regime to frame Falun Gong practitioners. The prosecution evidence included Ms. Wei “using her two phones that were modified to serve as a server to connect to hot spots to send text messages about Falun Gong.”

Miao recommended a 7-year term or a life sentence. Ms. Wei’s lawyer defended her innocence. He pointed out that connecting to hot spots using cell phones normally requires a person to stay in one spot but Ms. Wei walked around the park with an umbrella in one hand (it was raining the day she was arrested) and a bag in another hand. She left the park in about 10-20 minutes. Technically speaking, there was no way anyone could successfully connect to the hot spot through her phones.

The police claimed that they received a tip about Ms. Wei’s “illegal activity” in the park but no one appeared in court to testify.

Officer Xu also produced a video showing that Ms. Wei was connecting to hotpots, but the video was made before she went out for a walk at the park.

According to the lawyer, Ms. Wei’s daughter, who was the only family member allowed to attend the hearing, lent her iPhone to her mother. After Ms. Wei’s arrest, she demanded her iPhone be returned, but it was not. She was told that it was involved in her mother’s case and could only be returned after the case was closed. The police later determined that the iPhone had nothing to do with the case. By law, the phone should be returned within three days of the decision, but Ms. Wei’s daughter was not given her phone back.

Ms. Wei’s daughter also doubted that the two Lenovo phones belonged to her mother, who only knew how to make and answer calls with cell phones. Those two Lenovo phones, however, were shown to contain information that required sophisticated knowledge of smart phone functions.

Even if Ms. Wei did use phones to send out text messages about Falun Gong, there is nothing illegal about doing this as no law in China criminalises Falun Gong or labels it as a cult.

Judge Chen however still convicted Ms. Wei on June 27, 2025. Her daughter received a copy of the verdict on July 23 and it indicated that her iPhone was to be auctioned off with the proceeds used to cover part of her mother’s court fine.

 

Appeals Court Rules Against Ms. Wei, Daughter Seeking Justice for Her

Ms. Wei’s daughter wrote to judge Li Kai from the Beijing Second Intermediate Court, asking him to hold an open hearing so she could testify against the trial court’s wrongful conviction of her mother. Li issued a ruling on October 9, 2025 to uphold the original verdict against Ms. Wei without holding a hearing.

Using the 12368 online platform the next day, Ms. Wei’s daughter filed complaints against trial judge Chen and appeals judge Li for sentencing her mother without legal basis. She received a phone call that afternoon asking about her workplace. The caller warned her, “Falun Gong is an extremely sensitive issue in our country. The government has banned it and the sentence has been handed down. We just need to carry out the sentence. If you have any questions, you can file a motion.”

Ms. Wei’s daughter filed a complaint against officer Xu with the Dongcheng District Police Department’s Supervision Division on October 11, 2025. Officer Song (badge number 027485) answered the complaint call. He warned her that he was recording their conversation and that she could either report Xu to the Dongcheng District Procuratorate for dereliction of duty or file a lawsuit against the police department.

Song implied that the supervision division was not responsible for the matter. Ms. Wei’s daughter then mailed a complaint letter to the Dongcheng District Procuratorate. She received a reply from the Dongcheng District Court (which forwarded the complaint) on October 17, 2025.

The court stated that the police investigation of the case was clear with lawful sources of evidence that attested to Ms. Wei’s “crime” and met the standard for severe punishment. The court further praised itself for meting out an appropriate prison sentence in compliance with the law.

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