(Minghui.org) A Chongqing woman passed away in early 2020, several months after she and her daughter were arrested for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. She was 88.
Ms. Fan Defang’s passing put an end to the persecution that she had endured for two decades, in her later years.
After the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999, Ms. Fan went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in December 1999 and was arrested. The then 67-year-old woman was sent back to Chongqing and detained for 15 days.
Ms. Fan was arrested two more times, first in August 2000 and then on October 31, 2003. She was sent to a brainwashing center each time.
She was arrested again on January 28, 2005 while talking to people about Falun Gong, together with another practitioner Ms. Yuan Suxian. Ms. Fan was unable to get up and became temporarily incapacitated after brief detention, and was then released on bail to seek medical treatment. Ms. Yuan remained in custody and died under suspicious circumstances on July 30.
Ms. Fan was taken back into the Dadukou District Detention Center in May 2006 and sentenced to three years by the Dadukou District Court on June 9.
In September 2006, she was sent to the Chongqing Women’s Prison, where she was subjected to intensive brainwashing and forced to work over ten hours a day without pay.
After she was released, the authorities continued to harass her periodically.
Ms. Fan and her daughter Ms. Yu Xia were walking down the street in late September 2019 when a group of officers arrested them. Their shared home was also ransacked. Both of them were released on the day of their arrests, with Ms. Fan unconditionally and Ms. Yu on bail.
Ms. Fan passed away in early 2020.
Related report:
Practitioner in Her 70s Receives Three-Year Prison Sentence in Chongqing City
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