(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old mother was sentenced to three years in prison in early May 2021, after she was arrested for seeking the release of her daughter, who had been detained for their shared faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Chen Yan’s daughter, Ms. Cao Yueling, was arrested on August 24, 2020, before boarding a flight to Shanghai to see her twin sons, who had been staying with their father in Shanghai. She hadn’t seen them for five years.
Fifteen officers took Ms. Cao back to her parents' home in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, where she has been staying, and ransacked the place. The police also attempted to arrest Ms. Chen, but were stopped by her 78-year-old husband.
For the next few weeks, Ms. Chen went to the Leifeng Police Station several times to demand Ms. Cao’s release, but to no avail.
Ms. Chen went to the police station to demand Ms. Cao’s release again on September 21. After the security guard told her that the police chief wasn’t there, Ms. Chen went to the Domestic Security Office and met with the director, Tu Gang. Tu asked Ms. Chen to wait for him at the police station. Ms. Chen returned to the police station, only to be arrested by Tu. She was sent to the Xinbin Detention Center at around 4 p.m. on the next day.
Ms. Chen’s family recently confirmed that she has been sentenced to prison. She is appealing the verdict. It’s not clear whether her daughter, Ms. Cao, has been sentenced.
Prior to the mother-daughter duo’s latest ordeal, Ms. Cao was arrested in Shanghai on April 2, 2015 for handing out information about Falun Gong and sentenced to 4.5 years on March 25, 2016. She was released around March 2019 and arrested again 18 months later.
Ms. Chen’s arrest came only four months after she returned home on May 10, 2020 after serving a three-year term, which she was given for talking to people about Falun Gong.
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