testifying party

Testimony 1: Official court document, as used in court proceedings in the People's Republic of China.

Testimony 2: Official letter of complaint, as written to report or appeal with regard to legal/procedural violations. (lawyer)

Testimony 3: Rights Protection Network (维权网), a Chinese blog covering rights abuses in China.

Testimony 4: Official indictment, issued by a procuratorate and charging a given person(s) with an offense. Testimony 1: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 2: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 3: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 4: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 5: add father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband add add direct third-party

Update 

Name:    Description:    unverified verified    1 2 3 4 5    Add

about the victim

Wei Pengfei (alias: "Mixue") is a Jehovah's Witness.

Testimony 4:

Wei Pengfei has a "vocational secondary school education."

Her birthplace is recorded as: Shaoding County, Hunan province.
Her hukou is recorded as: Shanan Village Fu J5 Alley No. 28, Airport Express Way, Korla, Xinjiang.
Her current address is recorded as: 56 Tengfeng Road Ste. 19 2-501, Korla, Xinjiang.

Wei Pengfei (11411) was allegedly recruited as a Bible student by an individual called "Minister Mayila" and baptised in February 2010. She allegedly served as a missionary in September 2010.

"In 2011, after submitting application to Jiu An, [Wei Pengfei] served as an assistant pioneer in September 2013." [This sentence is grammatically ambiguous.]
Wei Pengfei (11411) allegedly served as a "formal pioneer" after sending an application to Lin Zaiwu (11400) at an unspecified point in time.

current location

[Presumably at the Korla City Detention Center (库尔勒市看守所).]

chronology of detention(s)

Testimony 4: Wei Pengfei was "put under criminal detention" by the Korla Police Department on 20 September 2018 "on a charge of inciting to obstruct law enforcement by organizing and using an evil religious organization." The following month, on 26 October 2018, the Korla Police Department received approval from the Korla People's Court to officially arrest Wei Pengfei. The official arrest was then executed by the Korla Police Department on 27 October 2018 [the next day].

The victim was indicted on 15 April 2019 by the People's Procuratorate of Korla City along with 17 other Jehovah's Witnesses "on suspicion of organizing and using a 'xie jiao' organization to undermine law enforcement."

The victim was reportedly sentenced to 3 years in prison and a fine of 15,000RMB on 13 June 2020 by the Korla City People's Court. [One of the reports from Bitter Winter says that the sentencing happened on 30 June 2020, but this appears to be a mistake, judging from the photograph of the court document included in the first report.]

The sentence was offset by time already spent in custody, so the period for which the victim is to be imprisoned is 20 September 2018 to 19 September 2021.

Testimony 4: From the residence of Wei Pengfei (11411), police reportedly confiscated "three books, one promotional image, 12 hand-written notebooks, 84 business cards of the Jehovah's Witness website, and one camera."

suspected and/or official reason(s) for detention

The victim was initially arrested for "evangelism" but later indicted "on suspicion of organizing and using a 'xie jiao' organization to undermine law enforcement".

The victim was ultimately convicted of "organizing and using a 'xie jiao' organization to undermine law enforcement" and sentenced (see above).

Testimony 4:

- Wei Pengfei (11411) allegedly attended the gatherings hosted by Liu Weiguo (11399) and Zhang Min (11407) at a rented place located in Bazhou Hospital, Jiashuyuan. After the original meeting place for those gatherings was shut down by the Korla Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau and the gatherings began to rotate from home to home, the home of Wei Pengfei (11411) was allegedly one of the locations at which subsequent gatherings were held. Wei Pengfei (11411) also allegedly distributed books and flyers relating to Jehovah's Witnesses "to believers and non-believers at Remin Square, Jinseshidai, Peacock Park, and other packed places."
- Wei Pengfei (11411) was allegedly one of the individuals who attended the gatherings held at Jurong Building 2-1705, Huashan Jinxiuyuan Ste. 3 5-102 on a number of occasions by Lin Zaiwu (11400), Yang Xianhua [wife of Lin Zaiwu] and Jiang Xijun (11403).
- The home of Wei Pengfei (11411) was among a number of venues allegedly utilised by Li Yifan (11401) and Jiang Jinling (11408) as a venue for one or more Jehovah's Witness gatherings.
- Since March 2011, Wei Pengfei (11411) allegedly "preached the thoughts of the Jehovah's Witness faith, an evil religion, to her mother, He Kaiyun, proselytized Zhang Cuihua, Lou Jingyuan [wife of Yu Bingru (11406)], Zhang Lin, Xu Li, etc., [identities unclear] and engaged in evangelical events for 70 hours every week."
- Wei Pengfei (11411) allegedly distributed cards [relating to the Jehovah's Witness faith] and [sic] "required believers to obey creeds: to not acknowledge Chinese culture, to not observe the customs of keening and vigil, to not serve the military, to not join Chinese Communist Party, to not sing the national anthem: to not honor any other law that they considered Communist Party taboos."
- In May 2013, Wei Pengfei (11411) allegedly "spread thoughts of the evil Jehovah's Witness religion" to Huang Lili (11412), "making her gradually accept the teachings and appointing her as the formal pioneer eventually."
- Wei Pengfei (11411) allegedly violated "Articles 300 and 25 of the People's Republic of China Criminal Law."

last reported status

Sentenced.

how testifier(s) learned of victim's situation

Testimony 1+4: this an official document from the Xinjiang court system.

Testimony 2: the lawyers who wrote the complaint are presumably directly involved with the case.

Testimony 3: not stated.

additional information

Bitter Winter summaries:
https://bitterwinter.org/18-jehovahs-witnesses-sentenced-to-years-in-jail-in-xinjiang/
https://bitterwinter.org/the-xinjiang-decision-against-18-jehovahs-witnesses-english-translation/

The Weiquanwang (Rights Protection Network Information Center) reported that on 14 February 2020 (Testimony 3, https://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2020/02/blog-post_26.html), most of the 18 Jehovah's Witnesses who were detained were subjected to various forms of physical punishment and mistreatment, such as being forced to wear "conjoined handcuffs" and "hug handcuffs" (where handcuffs are linked to shackles with a short chain, attached to a 5kg block). The victim is likely to have been one of those who underwent this mistreatment.

Several defence lawyers wrote a joint letter to the People's Procuratorate of Korla City in regard to the aforementioned mistreatment.

The aforementioned "conjoined handcuffs" and "hug handcuffs" were reportedly kept locked for 24 hours a day, including when the detainees were going to the toilet, eating, washing and "brushing" [it is unclear what the latter means]. Those who were handcuffed could reportedly only walk with their waists bent. Xu Yanli (one of the detainees) reportedly remarked that the detainees would sometimes have to crawl on all fours "like a dog" [presumably as a result of the "hug handcuffs"].

The 18 detainees were reportedly forced to sing songs. (Testimony 4: In October 2018, when Wei Pengfei (11411) was in custody at the Korla Detention Center, she allegedly disobeyed detention rules and "refused to sing patriotic songs or the national anthem"; the indictment alleges that in this instance, she used religion as an "excuse.")

The presiding judge for the trial on 13 June 2020 was Xu, Ruijiang. The other judges were Wang, Laiyou and Yu, Meiling. The secretary at the trial was 书记员米克热巴 [transliteration uncertain, likely an Uyghur name].

The indictment and trial were the first time that Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code was applied to Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are reportedly not included in the official list of 'xie jiao'.

places of detention

Korla City Detention Center

supplementary materials

entry created on: 2020-08-18

entry last modified on: 2021-03-18

last update from testifier(s): 2020-06-13