(Minghui.org) A 64-year-old woman had been allowed to postpone serving a 4.5-year prison term due to her poor health, but she was taken back into custody on March 2, 2023 after the authorities altered her physical examination record.
Ms. Sun Yanhuan, of Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, was transferred to Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on March 30. In just a few months, she developed blood clots in her brain and symptoms of a stroke.
Ms. Sun was first arrested on November 8, 2016 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She developed burning chest pain and a low-grade fever after months of detention.
As her condition kept worsening after she was sentenced to three years by the Dongfeng District Court on October 18, 2017, the local detention center and Jiamusi Intermediate Court decided to change her verdict to five years’ suspended sentence on November 27, 2017.
Not long after Ms. Sun returned home, she became paralyzed and had to undergo heart surgery.
The police returned on July 31, 2019, and confiscated her Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder, and paintings that featured Falun Gong. They attempted to take her back into custody, but she was denied admission again as she was still very weak. The police released Ms. Sun on bail with a one-year limit and designated her younger brother as her guarantor.
Meanwhile, the intermediate court revoked Ms. Sun’s suspended sentence and reinstated her original three-year sentence on October 11, 2019. She was ordered to serve time from October 11, 2019, to July 16, 2021.
Ms. Sun was taken back to the detention center on the day of the ruling, only to be turned down for admission due to her high blood pressure.
She was taken to the Xiangyang District Procuratorate on August 7, 2020, and told that the police were starting a new case against her, because she had committed another “crime” — possession of Falun Gong books. The police added that her “not cooperating” with the authorities during her suspended sentence was also part of her “new crime.”
Ms. Sun was tried by the Xiangyang District Court on October 27, 2020. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her and Ms. Sun also testified in her own defense.
Ms. Sun received a call from judge Ji Zhong on December 29 and was told to come to the court the next morning. When she went there at around 8:20 a.m. on December 30, the judge handed her a verdict designating a 4.5-year prison sentence with a 15,000-yuan fine. She was expected to be imprisoned from December 30, 2020 to April 3, 2023, after the 14 months and 26 days she served between 2016 and 2017 at Jiamusi Detention Center were deducted.
The bailiff next took Ms. Sun for a coronavirus test and a physical examination. She was found to have high blood pressure and symptoms of myocardial infarction. The doctor skipped the chest examination, which had indicated problems before.
After receiving her examination results later that day, the bailiff took Ms. Sun to the Jiamusi Detention Center. It happened that the same guard who took Ms. Sun to the hospital during her detention in 2017 was also there. The guard described to the detention center doctor Ms. Sun’s condition in 2017, and after the doctor confirmed Ms. Sun’s high blood pressure, the detention center director refused to accept her. She was then released.
Ms. Sun appealed the verdict, but the Jiamusi City Intermediate Court ruled to uphold her prison sentence on March 28, 2021.
She received a notice from the Xiangyang District Court on January 22, 2022 saying that she was to be taken into custody at some point. A court worker collected her biometrics on March 1, 2023 and took her to Hongda Hospital for a physical examination the next morning.
Ms. Sun was still found to be in poor health, but the court altered her exam results and had her admitted to the Jiamusi City Detention Center that afternoon. On March 30, she was transferred to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison, where she was forced to attend brainwashing sessions smearing Falun Gong. It was recently learned that Ms. Sun has developed blood clots and symptoms of stroke.
Related Reports:
Woman Given 4.5 Years for Her Faith, Denied Admission by Detention Center Due to Poor Health
Heilongjiang Woman Defends Her Innocence for Practicing Falun Gong During Court Hearing
Critically Ill Woman Faces New Indictment Before Previous Term Expires
Jiamusi Judge Demands Additional Supervision of Critically Ill Woman
Heilongjiang Human Rights Case Follow-up: Four Falun Gong Practitioners Illegally Tried (Photos)
Heilongjiang Authorities Arrest Nine in One Day Over Human Rights Case
Ms. Sun Yanhuan Arrested and Family Member Denied Visitation Rights
Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province: Procuratorate Returns Case against Falun Gong Practitioner to Police
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