(Minghui.org) A 76-year-old resident of Fancheng District, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province was sentenced to three years and nine months for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Ms. Li Xianzhi was admitted to Hubei Province Women’s Prison in late March 2023.
Ms. Li’s sentencing stemmed from an arrest on June 30, 2020. She was talking to people about Falun Gong at a local market when a shopper named Jia Yongfu reported her to the police. Agents from Tanxi Police Station arrested her and gave her 15 days of administrative detention. She was released on bail ahead of time due to her advanced age and a local COVID-19 outbreak.
While Ms. Li was out on bail, she was sentenced to three and a half years, but it is unclear when her trial (if any) took place. She was allowed to postpone serving time due to some unknown reasons.
Ms. Li was arrested again on May 17, 2022, for talking to people about Falun Gong. The local court then added three more months to her existing 3.5-year sentence. The local detention centers, though, all declined to admit her because she failed the required physical examination.
The court ordered that Ms. Li undergo more physical examinations in the next few months. She was taken back into custody on March 14, 2023. She was first held at Xiangyang City First Detention Center and then transferred to Hubei Province Women’s Prison in less than two weeks.
Past Persecution
Ms. Li used to suffer from numerous illnesses, including severe brain atrophy, arthritis, breast hyperplasia, lower back pain, gastrointestinal problems, and severe cervical hypertrophy.
All her symptoms disappeared after she took up Falun Gong in October 1996. Grateful for Falun Gong, she never wavered in her faith after the persecution began three years later.
Ms. Li went to the provincial government in Wuhan (capital city of Hubei Province) to appeal for Falun Gong shortly after the onset of the persecution in July 1999 and was arrested. She was held in the Migong Police Station overnight.
A fellow passenger reported Ms. Li to police after seeing her pass out informational materials about Falun Gong on a bus on March 6, 2006. She was detained at Fancheng District Lockup for one week.
The local street committee seized her on October 14, 2010 and took her to a local brainwashing center in Fancheng District.
She was arrested on October 9, 2011 and taken to Xiangyang City Brainwashing Center.
Her next arrest took place on December 12, 2015, when she was talking to people about Falun Gong in Huopai Town.
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