(Minghui.org) It’s recently been confirmed that a woman in Luoding City, Guangdong Province, has been sentenced to 4.5 years and fined 4,000 yuan for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The sentencing of Ms. Li Beifang stemmed from an arrest on August 2, 2021, for talking to people about Falun Gong. Tan Boyong of the Domestic Security Office and several other officers raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, materials, cell phone, electric motorcycle, and 500 yuan in cash. She was released the same day.
On September 8, 2021, Tan deceived Ms. Li into coming to the Xincheng Police Station by claiming that her cell phone and electric motorcycle would be returned. He then arrested her. After the local lockup refused to admit her, Tan held her at the police station for almost two days before releasing her at midnight on September 9.
Tan and three officers from the Xincheng Police Station broke into Ms. Li’s home on November 29, 2021, and took her to the police department. After submitting her case to the procuratorate, they took her there to sign her case documents.
The same group of officers went to Ms. Li’s home on December 9, 2022, and banged on the door. When she refused to let them in, they threatened to break in her door. She was forced to open up. The officers barged in and searched everywhere. They confiscated a receipt proving that her criminal complaint filed around 2015 against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong, had been received.
Ms. Li said nothing during interrogation at the police department. When the police threatened to handcuff her and take her for a COVID-19 test, she began to have spasms. The police then relented and took her home.
Tan and another officer harassed Ms. Li again and took her photo on March 24, 2023. It’s recently been learned that she has been sentenced to 4.5 years by the Yun’an District Court, but details of her indictment and court hearing(s) aren’t clear.
Past Persecution
Ms. Li, 57, used to suffer many health problems, including frequent dizziness and headaches, as well as uteritis and gastroenteritis. She recovered only a month after taking up Falun Gong.
Prior to her latest sentencing, she has been arrested several times and frequently harassed, often by officer Tan.
Several officers from the Luojing Police Station arrested Ms. Li at home on an unknown date. They confiscated her Falun Gong books and materials before taking her to the police station and interrogating her until 2 a.m.
Tan, then a director of the 610 Office, took Ms. Li to the Luoding Detention Center the next day and forbade her family from visiting her. After Ms. Li was released three weeks later, Tan often returned to harass her and sometimes took photos of her home. Her family lived under tremendous pressure over the years.
Ms. Li was arrested again by officers of the Fenjie Police Station on March 9, 2015, for distributing Falun Gong materials. Tan and several officers interrogated her and didn’t let her sleep at night. They raided her home the next day and confiscated her Falun Gong books and a calendar with information about Falun Gong.
Despite the fact that Ms. Li was found to have dangerously high blood pressure, Tan still took her to the local detention center. She suffered persistent dizziness, headaches, and numbness in one side of her body. The detention center called her family on March 17, 2015, and ordered them to come get her.
Shortly after, Tan harassed Ms. Li another time and ordered her to sign information he’d fabricated. He threatened her, “If you don’t sign it, I will handcuff you the next time. I don’t believe you will die on the road [from the high blood pressure]. I will also seal your daughter’s home.” It’s not clear whether Ms. Li complied. To date, Tan still holds Ms. Li’s ID and refuses to return it to her.
Ms. Li was arrested again on October 9, 2016, for distributing Falun Gong materials and later sentenced to one year.
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