(Minghui.org) A Laiyang City, Shandong Province, resident was sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Gao Meiying, 60, was arrested on November 29, 2018. The police ransacked her home and confiscated her computer and printer.
Ms. Gao appeared in Laiyang City Court on June 4, 2019. The prosecutor used her computer, printer and Falun Gong related materials as prosecution evidence to charge her.
Ms. Gao testified in her own defense and emphasized that she didn't violate any law in upholding her faith and telling people about it.
The judge sentenced her to 1.5 years in prison and fined her 6,000 yuan at the end of the trial.
Ms. Gao was sent to Jinan Prison on July 1 to serve time.
Both Ms. Gao and her older daughter, Ms. Gao Xuejiao, began to practice Falun Gong in 1998.
After the communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong, the elder Ms. Gao went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in June 2000. She held a hunger strike for a month while being held at Laiyang Detention Center.
A few days after she was released, several village officials took her to the government building, and beat and kicked her for more than one hour. Her face became swollen and she had bruises all over her body.
Four months later, Ms. Gao's daughter, who was only 18 years old at the time, also went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. After she was arrested and sent back to Shandong, the government officials took turns beating her. Her face and body were covered with bruises.
While keeping the teenager in detention, the police went to her home and ordered her father to open the door. The officers confiscated their valuables, including a TV and a motorcycle. The young woman was later given a two-year term at Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, where she was subjected to brutal torture aimed at forcing her to renounce her faith.