(Minghui.org) An 80-year-old woman was tried on January 10, 2018, without her family's knowledge and soon sentenced to 1.5 years in prison. She is now held at Nantong City Women's Prison.
Ms. Sun Aixia, a resident in Suzhou City, was last arrested around November 2017, barely six months after she finished serving 10 months in prison for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Her second imprisonment was preceded by her first prison sentence of three years back in 2007.
In addition to the three prison sentences, Ms. Sun has also been arrested at least seven more times and sent to local brainwashing centers three times since the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999.
Ms. Sun had remained bedridden for ten years before she began practicing Falun Gong in 1997. Her neighbors were surprised to see her outside again, and she told them, “Falun Gong saved my life. I no longer feel ill and I have endless energy.”
Her simple pursuit of health landed her in police custody numerous times. Her family also suffered tremendously. Her husband became so terrified after her arrest in 2002 that he left home and went missing. Eight months later, their daughter was notified to claim his body.
7 Prior Arrests that Resulted in Temporary Detention
Ms. Sun was first arrested on November 13, 2000, for holding up a Falun Gong banner on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. She had more than 10,000 yuan deducted from her pension to cover the travel expenses for the police from her hometown to come to Beijing and pick her up. She wasn't released until six months later.
Ms. Sun was seized again in February 2007 while distributing Falun Gong materials. Officer Zhang Yi didn't allow her to sleep and forced her to stand against a wall for long periods of time. She was detained for more than two weeks.
Ms. Sun was visiting Chongqing on March 30, 2007, when she was arrested and detained for more than two months.
Ms. Sun was reading a Falun Gong book at home in April 2012 when police broke in and arrested her. They interrogated her for a whole night.
Ms. Sun's daughter was forced to open the door to police on July 24, 2012, and saw her mother taken away helplessly.
Ms. Sun was seized on October 12, 2013, while distributing Falun Gong materials. For 33 straight hours, she wasn't given any food or water.
Instructor Xu Youhong of Luowei Police Station ordered his deputies to arrest Ms. Sun when she went to talk to him about Falun Gong on November 29, 2013. She wasn't released until one hour later.
Related Report:Ms. Sun Aixia Illegally Tried and Sentenced by Suzhou City Industrial District Court
