(Minghui.org) A Beijing resident out on bail for medical reasons never returned home after attending a court hearing regarding her appeal for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Her family suspected that she might have been taken straight to prison to serve her four-year term.

Ms. Zhao Zhisheng

Ms. Zhao Zhisheng, 66, was arrested on March 5, 2018, for mailing letters to the public to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home and kept her at Chaoyang District Detention Center. Her arrest was approved on April 10, 2018.

Ms. Zhao developed diabetes and hydronephrosis, a kidney condition in which the kidneys swell due to urine build-up, in the detention center. She was released on bail on July 23, after nearly five months.

A local court in Beijing sentenced her to four years in prison on December 29, 2018. The judge ordered her to have a physical exam, which indicated that she still had severe kidney problems that rendered her unfit to be taken back into custody.

Ms. Zhao later filed an appeal to protest her prison sentence. The Beijing No. 3 Intermediate Court held a hearing in March 2019. While it isn't clear whether the judge upheld her verdict, she never returned home after the hearing.

Related report:

Despite Extreme Persecution, Ms. Zhao Zhisheng Still Persevering in Her Belief