(Minghui.org) A 73-year-old woman was recently sentenced to seven years in prison for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Gao Jinping of Baoding City, Hebei Province, was arrested on August 22, 2019, after spending five years away from home to avoid being persecuted for her faith. Her computer and Falun Gong books were confiscated.
Ms. Gao, a retired textile factory worker, was previously arrested on September 9, 2013. Although she was released on bail after the Baoding Detention Center refused to admit her due to her poor health, the police submitted her case to the Xinshi District Procuratorate without her knowledge.
Only when the prosecutor summoned her in January 2014 did she realize that she had been indicted for her faith.
Fearing being sentenced, Ms. Gao decided to go into hiding.
In early 2019, the Baoding Social Security Office suspended her retirement payments under orders from the police. The police also summoned her daughter to try to find her mother.
After monitoring her family for several months, the police found Ms. Gao’s address and arrested her in August.
Ms. Gao appeared in Gaoyang County Court on December 5, 2019. The judge recently informed her lawyer that she has been sentenced to seven years.
Ms. Gao appealed to Baoding City Intermediate Court soon after receiving the verdict. But an insider told her family not to pin too much hope on the appeal, as the verdict was actually determined by the intermediate court.
