(Minghui.org) Ms. Luo Mingyou, a 66-year-old resident in Chongqing City, was imprisoned for 18 months because of her belief in Falun Gong. Following her release in October 2018, officials continued to harass her for refusing to renounce her faith.

Also known as Falun Dafa, Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that consists of five sets of exercises and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. This practice has been suppressed by the communist party in China since July 1999.

Ms. Luo was arrested at home by agents from Yongchuan 610 Office, an extra-legal agency tasked with carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong, and local police on the morning of April 15, 2017.

While being interrogated at Yongchuan Police Department, she was forced to sit on a tiger bench for two days and one night. Despite police intimidation, she refused to provide details on who went to distribute Falun Gong materials with her, owner of the vehicle used, and how they contacted each other.

The police did not provide Ms. Luo with any food or water until the following evening. She didn't eat and was then taken to a local hospital for have a physical examination. The police sent her to Yongchuan Detention Center right afterwards. At that point, she had not eaten or drunk anything for about 48 hours. Despite her protest, the detention center officials ordered her shackled and inmate uniform put on her.

On the third day, a guard continued to interrogate her and ordered her to do cleaning work even though she had not eaten anything.

During those days Ms. Luo tried to find an attorney who would agree to enter a not guilty plea for her, but the one her son managed to hire declined to defend her innocence. She wrote a letter to her son, but it was withheld by the detention center guards.

Ms. Luo's case was twice rejected by Yongchuan Procuratorate—first on August 27, 2017 and then on October 12, 2017—due to unclear facts and insufficient evidence. The police submitted the case a third time on November 12, 2017.

During the trial at Yongchuan Court on January 24, 2018, Ms. Luo was sentenced to 18-month imprisonment with a fine of 3,000 yuan. She found out after her release that the fine had been deducted from her bank account without her knowledge.

After Ms. Luo returned home in October 2018, nine people from various local agencies came to her home in the morning on January 20, attempting to ransack her apartment. She stopped them, stating that she had not done anything wrong.

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