(Minghui.org) A 78-year-old Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province resident was sentenced to five years with 20,000-yuan fine on April 26, 2022 for practicing 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. Hu Yulian, a retired employee of Daqing Oilfield, and who lived alone, was harassed twice by the police around mid-November 2021. The police deceived her into opening the door on November 19, by having her son knock on the door. They took Ms. Hu for a physical examination and sent her home, saying that they would come back the next day at lunch.

When the police returned the next day, they said the coronavirus molecular test she’d had the day before failed to produce a valid result. They deceived her into going with them for another test, only to take her to the Dumeng Detention Center. The police initially told Ms. Hu’s family that she would be detained for ten days. But they refused to release her when the ten-day detention expired and also submitted her case to the procuratorate for prosecution.

Ms. Hu stood trial at the Ranghulu District Court on January 18, 2022. The judge didn’t allow her family to attend the hearing, citing the pandemic as an excuse. Ms. Hu acted as her own lawyer and entered a not guilty plea. 

When the judge issued the verdict on April 26, he said that he originally intended to sentence her to seven years, but due to her advanced age, he reduced that by two years. 

Related report:

78-year-old Arrested After Being Deceived By the Police, Now Faces Prosecution