(Minghui.org) While still recovering from the trauma of being incarcerated and tortured for a decade, a 52-year-old former teacher in Shulan City, Jilin Province, was sentenced again to 3.5 years in December 2020 for seeking justice for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999.
When Ms. Song Yanqun’s father, in his 80s, went to Jilin Province Women’s Prison on February 27, 2023, to visit her, the prison kept him waiting from morning until 4 p.m., before arranging the visit.
Ms. Song was carried out by two inmates. All of her hair had turned gray. Her eyes were dull. Her limbs were shaking. Her speech was also slurred. She told her father that she was staying in the prison hospital and receiving regular shots. But when he asked her how long she had stayed in the hospital, she said she didn’t know. He asked her how old was her mother, she also answered “I don’t know.”
Ms. Song was arrested on March 26, 2020, for writing a letter to Li Keqiang, the then-Chinese Communist Party’s Premier, to call for justice for Falun Gong.
She was tried by the Shulan City Court through a video conference on November 10, 2020. Her lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for her and she also testified in her own defense. The court informed Ms. Song’s family in late December of her 3.5-year sentence.
Prior to her latest sentence, Ms. Song served 12 years in prison between 2003 and 2014. She was in serious condition and had been reduced to skin and bones when she was released.
Ms. Song Yanqun before the persecution
Ms. Song Yanqun after enduring 12 years of abuse and torture in prison.
Ms. Song isn’t the only one in her family who has been persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. Her younger sister, Ms. Song Bing, was sentenced to 14 years in 2004. She contracted tuberculosis in custody and was later released to serve time outside of prison. As the police kept harassing her over the years, she was forced to live away from home several times to avoid being arrested. Her health never recovered, and she died on July 30, 2009.
Related reports:
Tortured to Near Death, Former Teacher Sentenced Again for Writing Letters to China's Premier
Schoolteacher Song Yanqun in Critical Condition Due to Torture
English Teacher on Hunger Strike to Protest Imprisonment and Torture, Family Fears for Her Life
English Teacher Ms. Song Yanqun from Jilin Province Tells Her Persecution Story
The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Jilin Province Women's Prison
Ms. Song Yanqun Weak from Torture and Hunger Strike, Heizuizi Women's Prison Blocks Family Visits
Heizuizi Prison Assistant Warden Shouts, “We Are Not Responsible for Song Yanqun's Life!”
Nothing But Skin and Bones, English Teacher Severely Persecuted in Changchun Women's Prison
Brutal Torture in Jilin Province Women's Prison – Methods and Examples
Jilin Prison and Jilin Province Women's Prison Use the "Stretching Torture" on Practitioners
Song Yanqun Has Tuberculosis But Is Still Detained In a Small Cell
Ms. Song Yanqun's Life is in Danger at the Changchun Heizuizi Female Prison
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