(Minghui.org) Since a Yingkou City, Liaoning Province resident was first arrested for practicing Falun Gong in May 31, 2019, she has been repeatedly denied admission by the local detention center due to her persistent high blood pressure.
Ms. Han Guiyun was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan in June 2021. The police and court people kept harassing her at home before, during and after her trial. She was unable to stand up straight and had intensive back pain, as a result of the distress induced by the non-stop police harassment.
The 85-year-old retired teacher suffered a stroke on February 21, 2022 and was hospitalized for over 20 days. As the authorities suspended her monthly 4,600 yuan pension beginning in July 2021, she couldn’t afford the prolonged medical treatment and was discharged.
She is now bedridden and relies on liquid food to sustain her life, after most of her teeth fell out in the past year due to the mental distress. She also couldn’t recognize people, had trouble expressing herself clearly, and struggled with poor hearing.
Ms. Han was arrested in a park on May 31, 2019, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home and released her on bail at around 1 a.m. Five officers showed up at her door and took her to the Wutaizi Police Station on June 18, 2019 to sign the bail release documents.
After a hearing by the Zhanqian District Court on March 10, 2021, the police took Ms. Han for a physical examination. She was found to have dangerously high blood pressure. She also vomited, and was rejected admission by the local detention center.
A police officer and two people from the residential committee harassed Ms. Han on March 12. They said that if she agreed to sign a statement promising to no longer practice Falun Gong, they would give her a light sentence and she would still receive 60% of her pension. They threatened to suspend her entire pension if she refused to comply. Ms. Han said she wouldn’t sign such a statement and they left.
The police made another attempt to detain Ms. Han in late April. She was denied admission by the detention center again due to her high blood pressure, a condition she had been struggling with for the past year due to constant harassment by the police.
Judge Wang Feng sentenced Ms. Han to three years with a 10,000 yuan fine on June 3 and delivered the verdict to her on July 2. The “evidence” used against her included the fact that she had been practicing Falun Gong since 1996 and that she possessed Falun Gong materials at home. She appealed with the Yingkou City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original sentence.
85-year-old Retired Teacher Sentenced to Prison, Pension Suspended