(Minghui.org) A 67-year-old Beijing resident has developed severe health problems since her prison admission on November 18, 2016, yet her family has been denied visits or phone conversations with her.
Ms. Gong Xiurong was arrested in January 2015 after being reported for distributing information about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. She was soon released on bail after having a relapse of her old illnesses.
The local 610 Office, an extra-legal agency tasked with eradicating Falun Gong and given power to override the judicial system, seized Ms. Gong on May 18, 2015 and forced her to go through an 8-day brainwashing session.
The Shijingshan Court and the local street committee later pressured Ms. Gong into signing a “findings of facts” statement saying that she did pass out Falun Gong materials.
The court called Ms. Gong on September 26, 2016 and asked her to report to the courthouse. As soon as she arrived there, she was captured and told that she had been sentenced to 1.5 years.
Ms. Gong was moved to Tiantanghe Prison, a transfer center for newly sentenced people, on October 25. Only then was her family allowed to see her for the first and only time since her arrest at the courthouse.
Ms. Gong was admitted to Beijing Women’s Prison on November 18. She soon developed various symptoms, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, glaucoma, cataracts, loss of hearing in her left ear, and problems with her left leg. The prison mailed the medical diagnosis to her family in late December 2016, but has refused to allow visitation.
This is not the first time that Ms. Gong has been targeted for her faith in Falun Gong. She was once given two years of forced labor in June 2005.
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