(Minghui.org)
Chinese Name: 余寿荣Gender: FemaleAge: 73City: FushunProvince: LiaoningOccupation: N/ADate of Death: February 7, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 25, 2019Most Recent Place of Detention: Nangou Detention Center
An senior citizen serving time for her faith in Falun Gong was released on medical parole on December 13, 2020, after she felt unwell. Ms. Yu Shourong was diagnosed with late-stage cancer two days later and passed away on February 7, 2022, at the age of 73. Prior to her death, the authorities ordered her to return the low-income subsidy she had received during a previous four-year term.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yu, of Fushun City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on June 25, 2019, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police took her keys and ransacked her home without her being present. The officers pried up her wooden floorboards to look for Falun Gong items. Over 1,000 yuan in cash was taken away. She was held at Nangou Detention Center.
Ms. Yu appeared in Wanghua District Court on December 27, 2019. She was charged with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong. The prosecution evidence against her included the informational materials about Falun Gong that she gave out. The judge later sentenced her to three years with a 10,000-yuan fine.
She began to feel unwell in late 2020 and was released on medical parole on December 13, 2020. She was diagnosed with cancer two days later and was given 15 days of chemotherapy, which cost her nearly 40,000 yuan. By the end of the chemotherapy, the doctor refused to provide further treatment and sent her home.
The residential committee staff members later found Ms. Yu and ordered her to return the low-income subsidy she received while serving a previous four-year term between 2014 and 2018 for practicing Falun Gong. They cited an order from above and said if she couldn’t turn in the money on time, the residential committee director would be fired.
The authorities also wouldn’t let Ms. Yu make installment payments, pointing out that she might die at any time. Because she didn’t have any savings or own any property, the residential committee eventually found her nephew, who then contacted her son, who was once forced out of school due to the persecution and is doing odd jobs out of town. Ms. Yu managed to borrow 24,878 yuan and gave it to the residential committee. With an monthly income of 800 yuan, Ms. Yu struggled to make ends meet in the final days of her life.
Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Yu was targeted several times for her faith. She was arrested in January 2001 and held in a brainwashing center and then a forced labor camp for more than a year. It was reported that the 610 Office, an extralegal agency created to persecute Falun Gong, issued Falun Gong practitioner-arrest quotas for local residential committees and the police station.
Ms. Yu was arrested again in March 2003 and given three years in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. Because she refused to renounce her faith at the end of her term, the authorities extended her incarceration for a month and then transferred her to a brainwashing center.
Ms. Yu was arrested one more time, on July 7, 2014. The police ransacked her home and held her at the Nangou Detention Center. She was later sentenced to four years by the Dongzhou District Court and released on July 6, 2018.
The persecution of Ms. Yu also implicated her family. Her husband passed away during her second labor camp term due to fear and stress. Their son was forced to drop out of school and deprived of parental care.
Related reports:
Destitute Woman with Late-stage Cancer Forced to Pay Back Four Years of Low-Income Subsidy
71-year-old Woman Develops Cancer While Serving Time for Her Faith
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