(Minghui.org) A 49-year-old resident in Changsha City, Hunan Province was transferred to Hunan Province Women’s Prison in July 2022 to serve three years and four months for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Gong Xianghui had been arrested at least six times and held at a brainwashing center for nearly three years. She lost three jobs due to the persecution and was forced to have an abortion at 24 weeks.
Ms. Gong Xianghui
Ms. Gong and her husband Mr. Lu Congying were seized by the police during a group arrest on October 27, 2020. While Mr. Lu was released after nine days, Ms. Gong remained detained at the Changsha City No. 4 Detention Center.
In order to force Mr. Lu to provide information about other practitioners, the police harassed him in November and December 2020, threatening to arrest his son or beat him to death. Terrified, Mr. Lu fell ill and became bedridden. He relied on his parents, who were in their 80s, to care for him.
Ms. Gong was sentenced to prison by the Liuyang City Court on December 7, 2021 and transferred to the Hunan Province Women’s Prison in July 2022.
Past Persecution
Ms. Gong, an accountant, took up Falun Gong in 1996. Shortly after, her rheumatism and eye condition disappeared. She also got along well with her parents-in-law, both also practitioners of Falun Gong. Impressed by the changes in his wife and parents that were brought about by Falun Gong, her husband, Mr. Lu, also took up the practice in 2011.
Between July 19 and 22, 1999, when the communist regime officially ordered the persecution, Ms. Gong, who was pregnant with her first child, was held at her workplace and ordered by various groups of officers to renounce her faith.
A few days later, she and other practitioners, including her mother-in-law, were taken to an auditorium and forced to watch videos smearing Falun Gong. Every one of them was ordered to write a statement promising to give up Falun Gong; otherwise they wouldn’t be allowed to go home. Her detention left her bedridden grandmother, who was in her 80s and relied on her for care, in a dire situation. Under tremendous pressure, Ms. Gong resigned from her job. Everything she had relating to Falun Gong was confiscated.
Ms. Gong was arrested again in May 2000 and detained for two days. Her five-month-old toddler son cried hard without her.
Over ten officers broke into Ms. Gong’s home on January 18, 2001 and took her, her one-year-old son, and parents-in-law to the local brainwashing center. She was pregnant with her second child at the time.
The family was made to stay in dark rooms without sunlight and were monitored around the clock. Some officials threatened to kill the toddler.
Ms. Gong’s son was detained for three months, then sent to his maternal grandparents. Her parents-in-law were held at the brainwashing center for two years and three months before being released on April 2003.
Because Ms. Gong refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was forced to have an abortion at the brainwashing center while six months pregnant.
The staff there also tortured her. They pulled her hair, twisted her arm, and removed her fingernail. Several police officers also stomped and kicked her, while verbally abusing her.
On March 8, 2004, only six months after she was released, Ms. Gong was arrested again while visiting a friend. The police body-searched her and took away some Falun Gong materials. She was detained for 15 days this time. The insurance company she worked for also fired her.
She was fired in February 2005, only a few months after she found a job at a local kindergarten, after she refused to sign a statement promising that she and her family would not participate in any Falun Gong-related activities.
Her next arrest was on August 1, 2010. The police slapped her in the face, verbally abused her, and chained her to a chair for several hours. Her wrists became swollen as a result. After 16 days of detention, she was taken to the Laodaohe Brainwashing Center, where two people monitored her around the clock. They constantly ordered her to give up Falun Gong and threatened to shock her with electric batons.
Several staff members sexually assaulted her between August 15 and 31, 2010. Despite her strong protest, no one held the perpetrators accountable.
Ms. Gong was arrested one more time in July 2014 and had 1,000 yuan in cash and a flash-drive confiscated. The police attempted to arrest her again on August 12, 2014 but she wasn’t home. Eight months later, on April 10, 2015, the police returned and confiscated her laptop, satellite dish, and some Falun Gong-related materials.
In addition to Ms. Gong’s persecution, her husband was arrested in September 2011 and detained for a day. He was fired from his job in 2012. While he found a job shortly after, he was arrested while on his way to work on August 12, 2014. The police held him at the Laodaohe Brainwashing Center for nearly a month and caused tremendous loss to his workplace.
Related article in Chinese:
Related reports:
Updates on Falun Gong Practitioners Targeted in Changsha City, Hunan Province Group Arrest
Ms. Gong Xianghui from Changsha City Arrested and Beaten by Police (Photo)
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