(Minghui.org) A Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, resident is scheduled to be released on April 12, 2023, after serving a five-year term for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice with the core tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. The practice has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yan Jinghua, 62, was arrested on April 3, 2018 while putting up banners that said “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Although she escaped moments later, she was seized by the police again ten days later at her home. Her Falun Gong books and computer memory cards were confiscated. Ms. Yan’s arrest was approved on May 10 that year. Implicated in the persecution, her son was fired by his workplace.
Ms. Yan appeared in the Xihu District Court on August 16, 2019. She pleaded not guilty. The judge sentenced her to five years with a 20,000-yuan fine on September 19, 2019, accusing her of being a “repeat offender” due to her previous prison terms for practicing Falun Gong. She appealed with the Nanchang City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold the original verdict in January 2020.
When Ms. Yan was transferred from the Nanchang City No. 1 Detention Center to the prison after 21 months of detention, she was emaciated and her hair had turned gray.
Before her latest sentencing, Ms. Yan has served two prison terms totaling 7.5 years.
She was arrested at home in 2005 and had her computer, office supplies and cash confiscated. The Xihu District Court sentenced her to three years on May 12, 2006.
After Ms. Yan was taken to the Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison in June 2006, the guards deprived her of sleep, starved her, and sometimes forced her to keep running from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next day.
Ms. Yan was arrested again on April 19, 2011. Her home was ransacked and she was beaten in the police station. Her husband was denied the right to visit her at the detention center. The Xinjian County Court sentenced Ms. Yan to 4.5 years on September 15, 2011.
Two Jiangxi Residents Sentenced for Raising Awareness about Their Faith