(Minghui.org) A 62-year-old music teacher serving time for practicing Falun Gong has been hospitalized after becoming seriously ill. Because Ms. Yu Shaoping refused to renounce her faith, the prison authorities have been barring her family from visiting her.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yu, of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was arrested at work on May 14, 2019. Her school principal assisted the police in arresting her.
Ms. Yu was tried by the Dayi County Court on September 11, 2020 and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison with a 5,000-yuan fine. She developed a medical condition at the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison. Her family suspected that she was tortured in the prison and thus developed the condition.
Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Yu has been repeatedly arrested for upholding her faith. She was held in a detention center for three years and also served another three years in the prison, where she was beaten, shocked with electric batons, and subjected to drug administration.
After Ms. Yu was released in 2016, she was repeatedly harassed by the local authorities and required to report to her school security before she stepped out for lunch breaks or others things during school hours. The local education bureau often threatened to report her to the Political and Legal Affairs Committee for them to sentence her, if she didn’t cooperate with them.
In addition to the harassment and incarceration, her retirement pension was also suspended because of her holding firm to Falun Gong.
Ms. Yu’s husband, Mr. Wang Xiaosong, also practices Falun Gong. He had been previously sentenced twice and held in a brainwashing center. While in custody, he was subjected to relentless torture and developed high blood pressure as a result. His health kept declining after he was released, and he suffered a stroke on July 2, 2015. He lost mobility in his left hand and feet, and had relied on Ms. Yu for care the past few years. Ms. Yu’s latest arrest and sentencing put him in a dire situation.
Related reports:
Repeatedly Persecuted, Music Teacher Sentenced Again to 4.5 Years
Four Women Detained in Dayi County for Handing Out Falun Gong Informational Materials
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