Targeted in a Police Sweep, 80-year-old Woman Faces Prison Sentence for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) An 80-year-old woman in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province is facing a prison sentence for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Wu Shuzhen was arrested on June 11, 2021, during a police sweep ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial celebration on July 1. She was at home by herself when someone suddenly knocked on the door. She opened the door, only to have a group of plainclothes officers storm in. 

Without showing their IDs or search warrant, the police confiscated her Falun Gong books, printer, computer and 1,000 yuan in cash. She was interrogated at the Xiangyang Police Department, before being released on bail. 

To avoid being harassed again, Ms. Wu planned to stay at her son’s place in another city. When she tried to buy a train ticket, the railroad police asked to see her ID and then searched her body. Upon finding that she had banknotes with information printed on them about Falun Gong, the police ordered her to take them to her home for a search. As her home was just ransacked, the railroad police didn’t find anything related to Falun Gong and left. 

Officers of the Xiangyang Police Department later submitted Ms. Wu’s case to the Longcheng District Procuratorate, which indicted her and moved her case to the Longcheng District Court. 

During this time, the police, prosecutor and court staff members kept harassing Ms. Wu and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong. They threatened that her children would be implicated and lose their jobs if she didn’t comply. 

Ms. Wu’s son was informed by the court in early November that she was booked to appear in court on November 12. 

On November 12, Ms. Wu’s son was ordered to take her to the police department first. There, two female officers asked Ms. Wu again to renounce Falun Gong. She told them that she used to suffer severe tracheitis and low blood pressure. She always had difficulty breathing in the winter and she was too weak to do anything. After taking up Falun Gong, she has been healthy for the past two decades. Despite her age, she is still very energetic and lives on her own. If not for Falun Gong, she may have become incapacitated a long time ago.

After hearing what she had to say, the female officers called their supervisor and relayed her words. The supervisor instructed the court to cancel the hearing on that day and said they would get back to Ms. Wu later on.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Yu Zhongjun (于忠军), head of Xiangyang Police Department: [phone]Cui Jiapeng (崔家鹏), Longcheng District Political and Legal Affairs Committee: [phone], [phone]Wu Liqiang (吴立强), director of 610 Office: [phone]Mou Zhenyun (牟振云), director of Longcheng District Procuratorate: [phone], [phone]Liu Mingdi (刘明镝), judge of Longcheng District Court: [phone], [phone], [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related report:

Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province: 26 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day Prior to the CCP’s Centennial Celebration