(Minghui.org) A 75-year-old Jianshui County, Yunnan Province resident who went missing in December 2021 is now confirmed to have been arrested and sentenced for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
According to an insider, Ms. Liao Xiuqiong was sentenced to four years and is now held at the 9th ward in Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison. Other details about her case aren’t clear.
Ms. Liao’s arrest came less than two years after she was released from serving a previous 4.5-year term, also for her faith.
Past Persecution
Ms. Liao took up Falun Gong in July 1999 and soon recovered from her insomnia, arthritis, and other physical problems. She had very little education but miraculously managed to read Zhuan Falun, the book containing the main teachings of Falun Gong.
Her husband, Mr. Li Baoyi, who had been bedridden and incapacitated for years, was inspired by his wife’s positive experiences with Falun Gong. He started reading and listening to Falun Gong teachings, and was soon able to get out of bed and do farm work again. The couple found joy and hope in life again.
After the persecution began, the couple were arrested many times for upholding their faith. Ms. Liao was arrested in July 2004 and held in a brainwashing center. She was arrested again on January 12, 2005 when she went to the Chenguan Police Station to urge officers there to stop persecuting Falun Gong. She was given three years of forced labor and was brutally tortured at the Dabanqiao Women’s Labor Camp. She was once held in solitary confinement for six straight months. She was also forced to do hard labor without pay. Ms. Liao was released in January 2007.
Ms. Liao delivered a letter to the Chenguan Police Station and her local village committee in late June 2009, sharing how she benefited from Falun Gong and recounting her past persecution. The authorities raided her home instead and confiscated all her Falun Gong books. She avoided being arrested as she was working in the crop field when the police came.
Ms. Liao went to the police station the next day, demanding the return of her Falun Gong books. The police responded that they had to ask for instruction from higher-ups. She and her husband returned to the police station a day later. This time, the police said they had turned in the couple’s Falun Gong books to higher-ups. When Ms. Liao went to the police station again on the fourth day, she was arrested, detained for 15 days and placed under house arrest after her release.
Due to continued harassment, Ms. Liao left home in late August 2009 and went into hiding. The police then harassed her husband every day, demanding to know her whereabouts. He succumbed to the relentless pressure and died less than two months later in mid-October 2009.
Ms. Liao was arrested again on March 15, 2016 for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was held at the Caoba Detention Center in Mengzi County. The Jianshui County Court sentenced her to 4.5 years in prison with a 13,000-yuan fine on December 15, 2016. She was taken to the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison in January 2017 and held in the 9th and 7th wards subsequently. She was tortured, forced to work without pay and monitored by the inmates around the clock.
She was released in mid-January 2020, only to be arrested again in December 2021 for raising awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong.
Related Reports:
Yunnan Woman Missing for 19 Months and Counting, Possibly Arrested and Sentenced for Her Faith
The Persecution of Ms. Liao Xiuqiong from Jianshui County, Yunnan Province
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