(Minghui.org) Ms. Sun Yuying was informed by judge Li Zhongcheng in late February 2020 that he had sentenced her to three years in prison for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. 

Judge Li ordered her to go to the local court to sign three prepared statements promising she would renounce Falun Gong. He said to her on the phone, “If you sign one statement, I will reduce your term by one year. If you sign two statements, I'll give you two fewer years. If you sign all three statements, you will be acquitted. But if you don’t sign any of them, I will increase your term to five or seven years, and you will also be fined 50,000 yuan.”

Judge Li also bragged that he had sentenced Ms. Sun’s younger sister, Ms. Sun Yingjun, to three years and two months for her faith in Falun Gong. The younger Ms. Sun, who is serving time in Jilin Province Women’s Prison, suffered from declining health only a few weeks after she was imprisoned in late 2019.

Ms. Sun Yuying, 66, of Jilin City, Jilin Province, was arrested on May 16, 2019, for passing out information about Falun Gong. Another practitioner, Ms. Li Shuping, in her 60s, was arrested with her.

Ms. Sun developed a heart condition in July and was treated in the hospital. She was later released on bail after her family paid a 2,000-yuan bond to the police. She was required to report to the police every week. 

Ms. Li remains in custody in the Jilin City Detention Center.

On December 31, 2019, the police took Ms. Sun to the Chuanying District Court. Judge Li ordered her to sign the three prepared statements to renounce Falun Gong. Ms. Sun said she did nothing wrong and wrote “Falun Dafa is good; Falun Dafa is a righteous school of practice” instead of signing any statement. Incensed, the judge extorted 20,000 yuan from her family.

Two months later, judge Li sentenced Ms. Sun to three years in prison without holding a hearing. He again urged her to sign the three statements when he informed her of the verdict by phone. Ms. Sun refused to sign any statements and is facing increased more time in prison.

Because they practice Falun Gong, Ms. Sun and her sister have been repeatedly arrested and detained and had their homes ransacked over the past two decades. Both they and their families have suffered tremendous mental distress because of the persecution.