(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old woman in Fushun City, Liaoning Province was sentenced to four years and fined 16,000 yuan for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

The sentencing of Ms. Wang Caiyun, a retired worker of the Longfeng Coalmine, stemmed from her arrest on May 17, 2022. She was released after 15 days of administrative detention, only to be arrested again on March 4, 2023. She has since been held at the Fushun City Detention Center.

The Dongzhou District Court held two hearings of her case at the detention center, with the first one on July 12 and the second one on September 11.

Prosecutor Yang Kun introduced a mysterious witness in the first hearing without calling him (or her) to stand. The witness had the name of Xu Dawei but no other information (such as sex or age) was available. Xu was said to have witnessed the police interrogation of Ms. Wang, and the raid of her home. Xu’s signatures on five different forms all looked different.

During the second hearing, Yang still insisted that Xu, who was not present, was legitimate despite evidence saying otherwise (Ms. Wang’s husband, who was present during the police raid, never saw anyone named Xu at his home).

Yang also presented a black-white photo of Ms. Wang walking on the street and claimed that she distributed Falun Gong materials there. However no supporting evidence was provided.

The photo of Ms. Wang presented by prosecutor Yang

Judge Zhang Yang sentenced Ms. Wang not long after the second hearing. Ms. Wang is now appealing her wrongful conviction.

This is not the first time that Ms. Wang has been targeted for her faith during the past 24 years of persecution. She has been arrested multiple times and twice given forced labor totaling five years.

For details of her latest arrest and trial, refer to the following related reports.

Related reports:

Prosecutor Introduces Mysterious Witness in Trial Against Falun Gong Practitioner

Liaoning Woman Tried for Her Faith in Falun Gong