(Minghui.org) A 37-year-old woman was secretly sentenced to three years and four months after she was arrested for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Qiu Lin, a Jiaohe City, Jilin Province resident, was arrested on July 9, 2020, after being reported by a retired police officer for talking to him about the persecution of Falun Gong. 

After 24 hours of detention at the local police station, Ms. Qiu was transferred to the Jilin City Detention Center. The reason for the transfer was that the police found some postcards with QR codes linking to uncensored overseas websites in her bag and then accused her of undermining national security.

Ms. Qiu’s parents were kept in the dark of her case status. Only when her lawyer visited her at the detention center on January 9, 2021, did they find out that Ms. Qiu has been sentenced to three years and fined 2,000 yuan. She was charged with “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used by the communist regime to criminalize and imprison Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Qiu has appealed her verdict. She is now awaiting the result at the detention center.