(Minghui.org) A 74-year-old resident of Mian County, Shaanxi Province, was recently secretly sentenced to prison for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Du Shuhui, a retired accountant at the Urban Construction Bureau of Mian County, was arrested at home by officers from the Dingjun Police Station on December 7, 2023, and taken to the Hantai Detention Center. The Mian County Court scheduled a hearing for April 2024 and appointed a lawyer surnamed Qi to represent her.
It is unclear whether the hearing was held as scheduled, as Ms. Du’s family was never notified of an exact date. They have also been denied visits with her since her arrest. When they recently went to the detention center again, they were shocked to learn that Ms. Du was appealing a guilty verdict.
The detention center guards refused to reveal when Ms. Du was indicted, tried, or sentenced. They also remained mum on the length of her prison sentence. They only said that she was being held in a cell all by herself (possibly solitary confinement instead of privileged treatment) and is appealing her guilty verdict.
This is not the first time that Ms. Du has been targeted for her faith, which she credits for curing her numerous illnesses, including bronchial asthma, tracheitis, gallstones, cholecystitis, chronic nephritis, gastritis, adnexitis, frozen shoulder, cervical neuritis, neurasthenia, migraine, tinnitus, ringing in the head, hemorrhoids, and constipation.
She held firm to her faith after the persecution began in 1999 but was repeatedly targeted. Prior to her latest prison sentence, she was detained in a forced labor camp and a prison for a total of eleven years for refusing to give up her faith in Falun Gong.
Along with her sister, Ms. Du was sent to a forced labor camp in 2001. There they were deprived of sleep and denied use of the toilet. Ms. Du was arrested again in 2006. While she was in custody, she suffered an inflamed gallbladder and had to be taken to the emergency room.
The police broke into Ms. Du’s home in 2013, ransacked it, and arrested her. Held in Hantai Detention Center for over a year and a half, she was often in pain and had spasms from gallstones. She could barely eat, drink, or sleep. Every attack of gallstones lasted over ten days. She had four ultrasounds at three hospitals, with each diagnosis being the same: her gallbladder was full of gallstones. Surgery was recommended, but she was denied being bailed out for medical treatment. Ms. Du was later tried and sentenced to eight years in prison.
In prison, she was tortured on a metal chair many times. Guards and other inmates often beat her. The beatings were so severe that she lost teeth and her jaw was dislocated. They grabbed her hair and smashed her head against the wall or metal bed frames which caused her to have seizures.
She was once not allowed to use the toilet for 17 days. She had no choice but to relieve herself in her pants. Another time, she was forced to sit on a small stool for over five months every day from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. Her buttocks turned purple from sitting in one position for a prolonged period. When other inmates were sleeping, Mr. Du was forced to stand in the hallway until midnight in the freezing cold.
Falun Gong practitioners in the prison were not allowed to speak to each other, and Ms. Du was monitored at all times. She was tasked with trimming the threads of the finished clothes. She could only see them with her eyes almost on the fabric. When she couldn’t finish her quota, she was forced to stand well into the night while others slept. After four years of this, Ms. Du’s eyesight had drastically deteriorated. Objects within a few feet appear blurry to her.
The authorities have suspended her pension since 2018, which still hasn’t been reinstated. The authorities often harassed her after her release in late 2020. In April and June 2021, the police went to her home twice, demanding that she sign a statement promising to no longer practice Falun Gong.
Related reports:
Retired Accountant Endured Over a Decade of Detention and Torture for Her Faith
Six Hanzhong Practitioners Illegally Arrested, Officials Responsible Incur Retribution
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