(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old woman was sentenced to three years with a 15,000-yuan fine on January 4, 2021, for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Yang Meici, a Yantai City, Shandong Province resident, was arrested on August 27, 2019, for talking to people about Falun Gong at a farmers’ market. She was held at the Yantai Detention Center for ten days and released on bail due to her health condition on September 7, one day after the Mouping District Procuratorate approved her arrest. 

The police submitted her case to the procuratorate on November 20. The prosecutor indicted her on the next day and moved her case to the Mouping District Court. The court waited more than a year before hearing her case and sentencing her.

Three witnesses testified during her trial, alleging that Ms. Yang gave an elderly man a copy of a Falun Gong booklet at the farmers’ market. He didn’t take it. 

Moments later, a police officer came over and searched her bag, finding three Falun Gong booklets. He arrested her then searched her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, two dozen booklets, an mp3, a media player, and many Falun Gong keepsakes. 

The police accused her of being a “repeat offender” who refused to give up practicing Falun Gong. She had been thrice detained in the past for her faith, in September 2012, July 2015, and September 2018, respectively. One of the detentions was 10 days and the other two were 15 days.