(Minghui.org) A 77-year-old woman in Luoyang City, Henan Province was recently sentenced to 4 years for passing out flyers about Falun Gong. As Ms. Yang Mei had previously been given a 3.5-year term but had never served time due to her poor health, the judge in charge of her latest case combined the two prison sentences and ordered her to serve a total of 6.5 years, with a one-year reduction given her advanced age. She has appealed the verdict.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Yang’s two recent prison sentences stemmed from an earlier arrest on July 29, 2019 while studying Falun Gong books at home with several other practitioners. Over ten officers broke in and ransacked her place. When the Jianxi District Court held a hearing of her case on November 22, 2019, she testified that many of her ailments disappeared as a result of practicing Falun Gong and that she didn’t violate any law in upholding her faith. The judge kept pressing her to be more brief in her defense arguments and ended the hearing in less than 20 minutes.
Ms. Yang was arrested again on April 17, 2020, after being reported for putting up informational posters about Falun Gong. The police confiscated her Falun Gong books and a few calendars with information about Falun Gong.
The Jianxi District Court handed down a 3.5-year sentence against her on August 13, 2020. She was also fined 8,000 yuan. When she was taken to the local detention center to serve time, she was denied admission after she failed the required physical examination. The court thus postponed the enforcement of her prison term.
Ms. Yang’s latest arrest was on August 29, 2022, for distributing Falun Gong materials. The Jianxi District Court sentenced her to another 4 years with a 10,000-yuan fine. With her previous 3.5-year term, the judge ordered her to serve a combined term of 6.5 years. She still had to pay the full court fine of 18,000 yuan.
75-year-old Woman Sentenced to 3.5 Years for Practicing Falun Gong