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

Huang Lili (alias: Tang Xiao) is a Jehovah's Witness.

Testimony 4: Huang Lili (11412) was baptized by Lin Zaiwu (11400) in February 2014, allegedly becoming a Jehovah's Witness missionary from that point onward. Huang Lili has a junior high school education.

Testimony 4:

- Her birthplace is recorded as: Zhoukou, Henan province.
- Her hukou is recorded as: 126 Jianguo N Road Ste. 33 2-602, Korla, Xinjiang.
- Her current address is recorded as: No. 56 Tengfei Road Ste. 10 2-101, Korla, Xinjiang.

current location

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

chronology of detention(s)

Testimony 4: Huang Lili 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 Huang Lili. 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 Huang Lili (11412), police reportedly confiscated "one Samsung Laser Printer, one Canon Color Printer, one Samsung Galaxy Tab3 tablet, one Samsung laptop, 30 DVD discs, 108 business cards, two map cards, 23 large printed books, 44 small printed books, 22 hand-written note books, 55 hand-written notes, 383 flyers, 81 color brochures, two desk calendars, four pieces of advance directive, one Bible reading schedule, and one brochure."

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: Huang Lili (11412) 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).

Testimony 4:

- The home of Huang Lili (11412) 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.
- The indictment alleges that Huang Lili (11412) learnt sign language from Yang Xianhua [wife of Lin Zaiwu (11400)] for the purpose of preaching the Jehovah's Witnesses religion to the "weak, deaf and mute."
- Since 2014, Huang Lili (11412) allegedly [sic] "invited members of the sign language group, including Shi Xianhe [11415], Yang Ming, Li Bin, Zhang Kai, Ding Lijuan, Zhang Kai, and others to gatherings multiple times."
- Together with Shi Xianhe (11415), Huang Lili (11412) allegedly preached the Jehovah's Witness religion in sign language during gatherings; the indictment specifically alleges that they jointly "required members to rigorously follow the rules of the religion, obey the doctrine of 'Jehovah's Witnesses,' not serve in the military, not sing the national anthem, not join the Chinese Communist Party or Communist Youth League, not participate in elections as either candidates or voters, not celebrate Chinese traditional holidays," and "prohibited [members] from transfusing and giving blood."
- The indictment alleges that during her service as a "formal pioneer," Huang Lili (11412) downloaded, printed and made a total of five books and five flyers; she also allegedly handed out five copies of the Bible and other unspecified books, and distributed a total of 15 flyers.
- She allegedly allowed the [sign language] gathering to meet at her place, "No. 56 court Ste. 10 2-101" since October [year unspecified, but presumably 2014].
- Huang Lili (11412) 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: The indictment alleges that Huang Lili (11412) disobeyed detention rules in November 2018, "refusing to sing the national anthem and patriotic songs.")

Testimony 4: Huang Lili (11412) allegedly converted Yang Hua (11414) to the Jehovah's Witnesses religion in August 2013.

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