(Minghui.org) A Yangquan City, Shanxi Province, woman was sentenced to one year for practicing Falun Gong, shortly after her court hearing on March 4, 2021.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Li Xiulian, 59, was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in a residential area in mid-October 2020. The police identified Ms. Li through surveillance cameras. On November 16, a group of officers broke into her home and arrested her. Her home was also ransacked.

Ms. Li was first held at Meng County Detention Center and later transferred to the Yangquan City Detention Center.

After Ms. Li was indicted, a staff member of Pingding County Court called her husband and asked him to make an audio recording to persuade her to renounce Falun Gong. That person said he could reduce Ms. Li’s prison term by one year if she complied, or he would sentence her to one and a half years.

Ms. Li’s husband refuted that Ms. Li didn’t violate any law in practicing Falun Gong. He said that it is because of her practicing Falun Gong that they have a happy and harmonious family.

Ms. Li’s family was informed on March 1, 2021, that she had been scheduled to be tried three days later. Ms. Li attended the virtual hearing from the detention center. Her two children and sister watched it at Pingding County Court. She was sentenced to one year shortly after.

For upholding her faith, Ms. Li has been given two years of forced labor in 2001. She was harassed on April 10, 2017; December 3, 2019; and July 24, 2020, prior to her latest arrest.