(Minghui.org) A woman in Guizhou Province was sentenced this May to three years in prison for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted in China. She had been detained for over a year prior to her trial, during which time she wasn't allowed to see any of her family.
Ms. Suo Zhenglin’s sentencing was preceded by her latest arrest in April 2016. After the arrest she was pressured to give a blood sample and her fingerprints, and to write statements renouncing her belief. She was then held in the detention center of the Qiannan Police Department.
A year later her lawyer was stunned to discover that Ms. Suo had already been sentenced to three years when he met with the judge who handled her case in Dushan Court. Her attorney demanded a retrial, which was held in May 2017. The judge meted out the same sentence of three years. Ms. Suo has filed an appeal with the Duyun City Intermediate Court.
Prior Arrest Results in Crippled Leg
Ms. Suo, 54, used to be an elementary school teacher in Dushan County. She had suffered from spinal disc extrusion and abnormal bone growth. The pain almost disabled her, and she had to work and raise her young son alone. She found Falun Gong in 1998 and a few months into the practice, all of her ailments were gone.
Ms. Suo was distributing Falun Gong literature in May 2006 when the police in Dushan County arrested her. She was arbitrarily given two years and incarcerated in Guizhou Women's Prison in October 2006. She was fired from her job.
One of her legs was crippled as a result of severe beatings suffered in prison.
Ms. Suo had a hard time finding a job after she was released from prison in October 2008. She had an elderly mother to care for. Her only son, fearful of being implicated in the persecution, refused to have any contact with her. She worked odd jobs before she was arrested again in 2016.
