(Minghui.org) Two months after an elderly mother passed away after she was harassed and traumatized by the arrest of her daughter, the family was dealt another heavy blow when the daughter was sentenced to 3.5 years for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Xu Zhonghui, a 58-year-old Jiangyou City, Sichuan Province resident, was arrested at home on July 11, 2019. Her blind mother in her 80s, who was living with Ms. Xu, was terrified by the arrest and police raid.
After the elderly woman later moved to her older daughter’s home, the local government officials chased her there in August 2019. The officials took her photo and videotaped her. They also forced her to sign a statement on Ms. Xu’s behalf to renounce Falun Gong and threatened her that her grandchildren’s future would be impacted if she didn’t sign it.
The elderly woman was reluctant to comply. The officials then signed Ms. Xu’s name on the statement and forced the elderly woman to press her fingerprint on it. Shortly after the police left, the elderly woman became incontinent.
On November 19, 2019, the local government officials and police returned to Ms. Xu’s sister’s home and threatened the sister to sign a document. She replied that she was unable to read and couldn’t sign the document if she didn’t know what’s written in it. The authorities still forced her to sign it, threatening her that officials from the provincial government would come to talk to her if she didn’t comply.
The harassment of Ms. Xu’s sister further traumatized their elderly mother, who had a serious fall and became bedridden and completely incapacitated.
The elderly woman’s health continued to decline and she passed away in deep agony and fear in late July 2020.
Ms. Xu’s husband was also targeted. He was forced by the local 610 Office, an extralegal agency created specifically to persecute Falun Gong, to sign a prepared document testifying against Ms. Xu, without being allowed to read what’s on it. The 610 Office threatened to arrest him if he didn’t sign it.
Ms. Xu was tried through a video conference by the Jiangyou City Court on June 17, 2020. The hearing was originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m., but the judge moved it to 1 p.m. without informing her family, leaving them unable to attend the session.
The prosecutor, Li Xiujian, mumbled in a very low voice while reading Ms. Xu’s indictment. Ms. Xu protested several times that she was unable to hear him clearly. The prosecutor continued with a low voice, until when he read the last sentence, which was very loud and clear, “The defendant Xu Zhonghui refused to plead guilty and should be given a heavy sentence!”
No witnesses mentioned in the indictment who claimed to have received Falun Gong materials from Ms. Xu appeared in court to accept cross-examination, nor did the prosecutor present any alleged Falun Gong materials distributed by Ms. Xu in court.
Ms. Xu’s family received a call from her lawyer on September 8, 2020, that the judge sentenced her to 3.5 years in prison and fined her 4,000 yuan on September 8, 2020. The verdict was dated August 31, 2020.
Related report:
Sixty-four Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Weeks in Sichuan Province
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