(Minghui.org) Ms. Yu Shufen was taken away by two plainclothes officers on September 28, 2021 from her home in Changle County, Shandong Province. She was taken to the Changyi Detention Center on the same day, to serve a seven-year prison term for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yu’s ordeal started when a group of officers from Changle District Domestic Security Office ransacked her home on January 12, 2016. The police left after failing to find anything related to Falun Gong, except for a desktop calendar with photos of Falun Gong practitioners and an introduction about the practice.
Ms. Yu was arrested on January 18 by officers Shan Jicheng and Zhao Shisheng of the Domestic Security Office. After Weifeng Detention Center declined to admit her due to her high blood sugar, the police released her on bail two days later, charging her family a 5,000 yuan bond.
Shan called Ms. Yu’s husband on January 25, asking him to tell his wife to come pick up her confiscated cell phone. She went and was interrogated by Shan for a whole afternoon before being let go. Shan tried, unsuccessfully, to pressure her to frame another local Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Qin Lili.
Ms. Yu was summoned to the local Changle County Procuratorate on April 20. She was again asked about Ms. Qin. She refused to fabricate evidence against Ms. Qin.
The local Changle County Court questioned Ms. Yu on May 12. She explained to them that she never gave any evidence against Ms. Qin and that officer Shan falsified the interrogation records.
Shan showed up at Ms. Yu’s door in July 2016 and took her back into custody. He drove her to the local hospital the following afternoon, and she was again diagnosed with high blood sugar. Shan released her later that day, saying to her, “Don’t be happy too early that the detention center didn’t take you. As long as you are alive, I can send you there.”
Liu Qiang from the court called Ms. Yu on July 19 and informed her that she’d be tried the following day. Ms. Yu was let go after she appeared in court on July 20.
Shan tried again in September 2016, but the detention center still refused to take Ms. Yu due to her high blood sugar.
Ms. Yu lived away from home for the next 17 months to avoid arrests. Shan called her husband numerous times demanding to know her whereabouts. Shan later told her husband that she has been sentenced to 7 years.
Ms. Yu returned home in February 2018 to celebrate the Chinese New Year holiday with her family. Officer Zhao Shisheng arrested her at home one month later, at 7 a.m. on March 13, when her husband was about to leave for work. The police ransacked her home again, taking away a broken mp3 audio player and 1,000 yuan in cash. She was taken to the Chengdong Police Station and had her fingerprints collected. As she was still found by the hospital to have high blood sugar, the detention center refused to take her. She was then returned to the police station.
The police brought Ms. Yu to the court the following day, and she was ordered to sign a piece of her case document and handed over the verdict of seven-year sentence with 8,000 yuan fine. She filed an appeal on March 21.
Ms. Yu was summoned to the Weifang City Intermediate Court on May 22, 2018 and interviewed about her appeal. She clarified to the two judges about how she benefitted from practicing Falun Gong and strives to be a good person by following its principles. She never heard back from the intermediate court.
Ms. Yu was reported for distributing Falun Gong materials in a residential area on February 6, 2021 and arrested. The police ransacked her home at noon and confiscated her Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder, 100 yuan in cash, and other materials. She refused to answer any questions and was released in the afternoon.
Four officers arrested her at home on May 25 and forcibly collected her fingerprints and other biometrics. While waiting on some test results, the police let her go and asked her to report back to them on the next day. Fearing being detained, Ms. Yu left home early next morning and became displaced.
Shortly after she returned home, she was arrested on September 28 and ordered to serve the seven-year sentence. She was first held at the Changyi Detention Center and transferred to the Weifang City Detention Center on October 22, 2021. Her lawyer and family weren’t allowed to visit her.
Related report:
Shandong Woman Sentenced to Prison after Being Rejected by Detention Center Four Times
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