(Minghui.org) A widow in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was recently sentenced to one year with one-year probation for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. 

Ms. Yin Wenyan, 84, was also ordered to report to the local justice bureau twice a week. She has to apply for permission from the justice bureau if she plans to travel out of Wuhan. Her term is set to expire on October 21, 2022. 

Ms. Yin, a retired senior medical engineer, was reported for distributing Falun Gong materials on August 2, 2019. The police located her residence through surveillance videos and arrested her three days later. Her home was also ransacked. She was interrogated at the Shuiguohu Police Station until 2 a.m. and then released on bail. The police put her on residential surveillance a year later on August 5, 2020.

The authorities kept harassing her during that time. It also happened that her son passed away from illness. While still mourning their son’s death, Ms. Yin and her ailing husband lived away from home to avoid further harassment. But her husband could not withstand the mental pressure and passed away soon after.

Worried about Ms. Yin, one of her relatives invited her to stay with her, yet the police continued to harass her over the phone. Not wanting her relative to be implicated, Ms. Yin returned home in December 2020. The police soon knocked on her door. One officer from the Wuchang District Justice Bureau also called her, but he refused to reveal his name when being asked.

The police told Ms. Yin that they had submitted her case to the Wuchang District Procuratorate. The prosecutor indicted her on January 4, 2021, and moved her case to the Wuchang District Court. She stood trial on July 23, 2021. 

In late December 2021, two staff members from the Wuchang District Court visited Ms. Yin and delivered the verdict to her: she was sentenced to one year with one-year probation and fined 2,000 yuan. She was also ordered to attend a community correction program during her term. 

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Hu (胡), head of Wuchang District 610 Office: +86-15327103939Wei Xiaoxia (魏筱霞), presiding judge of Wuchang District Court: +86-27-88223524Xia Cao (夏操), officer, Dongting Police Station: +86-19972068257

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)