(Minghui.org) It was recently learned that a 57-year-old resident of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province was sentenced to 4.5 years for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhao Xiuli was seized by officers from the Chengdonghu Police Station at her tailor shop on October 17, 2022. Prior to her arrest, five officers had spent an hour searching her home earlier that day. They claimed to have found the clothes and shoes she was wearing while distributing Falun Gong materials, which had been recorded by surveillance cameras. Her Falun Gong books, computer and printer were also confiscated.
The local detention centers at the time did not accept anyone who had not gone through 14-day quarantine or done COVID-19 tests. The police thus kept Ms. Zhao in their police station for 14 days, when by law a suspect can only be kept at a police station for up to 24 hours. During those two weeks, the police took her to do a COVID-19 test every morning and then brought her back. Her husband was ordered to deliver food to her every day, but she went on a hunger strike to protest the arbitrary detention.
The police lied to Ms. Zhao’s husband that they’d release her in a few days, only to transfer her to a local detention on October 31, 2022, when she finished the 14-day quarantine.
The details of Ms. Zhao’s subsequent indictment, trial, and sentencing remain to be investigated.
Past Persecution
Ms. Zhao took up Falun Gong in April 1996. In less than six months, her many illnesses, including rheumatism, hemorrhoids, psoriasis, breast hyperplasia, appendicitis, and migraine, disappeared. She also changed her mind to divorce her husband and improved her relationship with her mother-in-law.
Since the onset of the persecution, she has been incarcerated twice for upholding her faith prior to her latest arrest. She was given two years of forced labor following her first arrest on December 31, 2000. While serving time at the Shenxin Forced Labor Camp and Longshan Forced Labor Camp, she was forced to work with toxic products and sometimes worked until midnight.
Ms. Zhao filed a criminal complaint in 2015 against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who launched the persecution in 1999. She was arrested on August 11, 2016, after being deceived by the police into going to their office.
The Heping District Court held a hearing of her case on January 23, 2018. Her husband, son and daughter weren’t allowed to attend. The judge sentenced her to two years on July 19, 2018. She was released from the Shenyang City Detention Center three weeks later.
Related Reports:
Tailor on Hunger Strike After Being Arrested for Practicing Falun Gong
Liaoning Woman Detained for Suing Former Chinese Dictator, Police Refuse to Meet With Her Family
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