(Minghui.org) A 78-year-old woman in Tianjin was sentenced to one year on April 26, 2023, for her faith in Falun Gong. She has appealed the verdict.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Liu Zhimei was arrested on July 22, 2022, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a public plaza. The police body searched her and ransacked her home. They summoned her a few times after releasing her on bail. She was ordered to fill out some paperwork at the court and given the indictment paper on December 5.
Ms. Liu stood trial at Hexi District Court on February 6, 2023. The judge only allowed the prosecutor to talk during the hearing but restricted the speech of her husband as a family defender.
Ms. Liu received a call from police officer Li Guang on April 20. He claimed that the judge had ordered him to take her for a physical examination two days later. She went with Li for the physical on April 22 and was found to have extremely high blood pressure. She returned home later that day.
Li took Ms. Liu back to court on April 26, and she was handed down a one-year sentence with an 8,000 yuan fine. It’s not clear whether she has been taken back into custody at the time of writing.
Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Liu has been arrested at least ten times for distributing Falun Gong materials. The longest duration of detention following her previous arrests was four months. The police once drew five tubes of blood from her without providing further information.
In addition to Ms. Liu, her husband Mr. Wang Runxiang, daughter Ms. Wang Haiyan, son Mr. Wang Haifeng and his wife Ms. Lyu Caiyun also practice Falun Gong and have been repeatedly detained for speaking up for their faith. Her husband was once detained for six months. Their son was given a forced labor camp term of three years and three months.
The couple’s daughter and daughter-in-law were once arrested together. Both of their infant babies were brought to the police station with them. The police starved both women for two days, which caused disruption to their breast milk supply.
Ms. Wang Haiyan was sentenced to four years and three months in 2018 for putting up Falun Gong posters. She became mentally incoherent after being force-fed toxic drugs in prison. She suffered a complete mental breakdown three months after she was released.
Perpetrators’ information:
Shi Guang (时光), presiding judge of Hexi District CourtChen Hongyou (陈红佑), judge of Hexi District CourtCao Guiqin (曹桂琴), judge of Hexi District Court
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