(Minghui.org) A 63-year-old Shanghai resident was recently sentenced to one year and two months for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Chen Qinfang was arrested on December 23, 2021 for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was held at the Jiading District Detention Center and sentenced on January 18, 2023 by the Jing’an District Court. Other details about her sentencing aren’t available.
Past Persecution
Since the onset of the persecution, Ms. Chen has been detained at various brainwashing centers a total of four times, given five terms of forced labor and sentenced once prior to her latest ordeal.
Four Brainwashing Center Detentions
Ms. Chen was first arrested on January 23, 2000 and held at a local brainwashing center for eight days.
She was arrested again on May 18, 2001 and sent to the same brainwashing center. Her four-year-old daughter was also implicated and detained with her. Because Ms. Chen still refused to renounce Falun Gong at the end of the brainwashing session, she was transferred to another brainwashing center. There, she was tied up for doing Falun Gong exercises at night. In the morning, the guards hung her up by the wrists, with her toes barely touching the ground. She was released on August 1, 2001.
Torture illustration: hung up by the wrists
Ms. Chen was arrested another time in February 2009 while caring for her ailing mother-in-law. Her detention in a brainwashing center caused a quick decline in her mother-in-law’s health and she passed away a month later. Ms. Chen was released in May 2009.
Five Labor Camp Terms
Ms. Chen was arrested on August 23, 2001 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. At the Jiading Detention Center, she was hung up by the wrists from the frame of a metal door and not let down when she needed to use the restroom. The guards also forced her to stand facing the wall for long hours every day for a week.
Shortly after, Ms. Chen was given two years at the Qingpu Women’s Forced Labor Camp. She was forced to work without pay from early morning until late evening. If she refused to comply with the guards’ orders, they forced her to stand for long hours every day for up to two weeks. She was under tremendous mental and physical distress.
Between July 3 and August 1, 2003, the guards held her in solitary confinement and kept a high-voltage light on and shining on her despite the hot temperature. She kept sweating all day long.
Ms. Chen was arrested again and had her home ransacked on October 16, 2004. After a brief detention at the Jiading Detention Center, she was given another one-year term at the Qingpu Women’s Forced Labor Camp.
While shopping in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province on January 30, 2008, Ms. Chen was again arrested and given one year of forced labor. She was taken to the Nanjing City Women’s Forced Labor Camp in March 2008. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, the guards slapped her in the face, covered her head with a blanket and stuffed her mouth with rags used to clean the floor.
Torture reenactment: mouth stuffed with filthy rags
Only a year after Ms. Chen was released, she was arrested another time on November 1, 2009 while shopping in Kunshan. She was held at the Kunshan Detention Center and given another year at the Nanjing City Women’s Forced Labor Camp.
Following her other arrest on May 26, 2011, she was taken to the Jiading Detention Center in the evening and given her fifth labor camp term of 1.5 years.
Again at the Qingpu Women’s Forced Labor Camp, she was forced to sit on a small stool from dawn to 10 p.m. every day. She wasn’t allowed to move and the inmates often hit her on her back and pinched her legs. The sitting torture caused her to develop gallstones that caused acute pain. After she was released on medical parole, she was taken back to the labor camp on January 23, 2012 and tied up in a bed for three days. The guard also put unknown drugs in her food.
Sentenced to Prison
Ms. Chen was arrested one more time on June 22, 2017 for using paper currency printed with information about Falun Gong to buy fruit. Due to strict information censorship in China, many Falun Gong practitioners printed short messages on paper currency in order to raise awareness about the persecution. She was held at the Jiading Detention Center. The Jiading District Court sentenced her to two years and ten months with a 3,000-yuan fine on August 29, 2018. She served time at the Shanghai Women’s Prison.
Related report:
Ms. Chen Qinfang from Shanghai Files Criminal Complaint after Five Stints in Forced Labor Camp
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