(Minghui.org) Three elderly Falun Gong practitioners in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province were recently sentenced to prison for their faith, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Hu Shuiying, 72, was sentenced to three years. She was set to be taken to the Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison soon. Ms. Xiao Xinjin, 76, was sentenced to one year and fined 2,000 yuan. Ms. Wang Dongya, 80, was given seven months with a 25,000-yuan fine. Both Ms. Xiao and Ms. Wang were allowed to serve time at home.
The three practitioners were arrested on the morning of August 2, 2022, while chatting with each other at a local bus stop. The police searched them and confiscated from Ms. Xiao 500 yuan in cash and a few Falun Gong brochures.
The police then raided all three women’s homes. They confiscated Ms. Xiao’s Falun Gong books, radio and other valuables. It is unclear what items were seized from the other two women’s homes. The practitioners were held at the Xihu District Police Department for about 15 hours before being released on bail. The police ordered them to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. It’s not clear whether they complied.
The police harassed Ms. Xiao multiple times in the next few months. They forced her to sign several documents in April 2023. She was summoned to the police station on August 3, only to be taken back into custody at the Nanchang City First Detention Center.
The Xihu District Police Department called Ms. Hu’s family in early March 2023 and ordered her to report to them on March 14. She went and was ordered to sign a statement promising to give up Falun Gong. She refused to comply and urged the police to stop persecuting law-abiding practitioners like her. The police accused her of being a repeat offender (due to her previous two prison sentences for practicing Falun Gong) and threatened to forward her case to the Xihu District Procuratorate. They took her back into custody on August 3, 2023, the same day as Ms. Xiao, and held her at the Nanchang City First Detention Center.
Ms. Wang remained on bail.
The Xihu District Court initially scheduled a hearing for November 21, 2023, but later decided to postpone it after Ms. Hu’s lawyer submitted a criminal complaint against her perpetrators (it’s unclear who exactly were named the defendants).
The court held a joint hearing of the three practitioners’ case on December 2. Ms. Hu’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. It’s not clear whether the other two practitioners were represented by a lawyer.
The court then held a separate hearing on December 7 to hear Ms. Hu’s criminal complaint case, which is still pending at the time of writing.
Ms. Hu, Ms. Xiao, and Ms. Wang were convicted on an unknown date following their hearing on December 2.
Two Previous Prison Terms of Ms. Hu Shuiying
Ms. Hu, a retired employee of a local construction company, took up Falun Gong in October 1998. Prior to her latest prison terms, she was previously twice sentenced, to 7 and 2 years, respectively.
Ms. Hu was arrested around midnight on November 28, 2003 by Hu Zhengxi and Li Tao of the Xihu Police Station. She was beaten at the Nanchang City Second Detention Center. The police hung her wrists from the high window frame and deprived her of sleep. Her feet were injured and her hands became swollen from the beating.
The Xihu District Court sentenced Ms. Hu to seven years in 2004. At Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison, she was forced to do unpaid labor for over ten hours each day. She was also frequently held in solitary confinement.
In May 2004, the prison gathered all Falun Gong practitioners who refused to renounce their faith in the prison’s education building. The guards deprived the practitioners of sleep and subjected them to mosquito and insect bites. The practitioners weren’t allowed to talk or move around. As long as they didn’t give in, the torture continued.
Terrified by the persecution, Ms. Hu’s husband passed away in 2007, without seeing her for the last time. The prison also refused to release her to handle his funeral and after-death affairs.
Ms. Hu was arrested again on July 19, 2019 and sentenced to two years with a 30,000-yuan fine by the Xihu District Court on October 22, 2020. She served time at Nanchang City First Detention Center and was subjected to constant torture and verbal abuse.
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