(Minghui.org) Minghui.org recently confirmed that a Deyang City, Sichuan Province, resident was sentenced to 2.5 years in 2020 for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. As she couldn’t afford to pay the court fine, the authorities froze her husband’s bank account in 2024 until he paid the fine for her.

Ms. Bao Shuhua was initially arrested on May 26, 2020. After a brief detention, she was released on bail, after her family paid 2,000 yuan bond.

The police arrested Ms. Bao again on June 30, 2020, and ordered her to reveal information about other local practitioners. She refused to comply and was taken to the local detention center. The police claimed that she violated the bail term and refused to return the 2,000 yuan bond. 

The local court later held a virtual hearing of Ms. Bao’s case and sentenced her to 2.5 years with a 10,000 yuan fine. 

On October 22, 2024, nearly two years after she was released, Ms. Bao received a summons from the court and was ordered to go there eight days later to pay her court fine. She checked her bank account afterward and was surprised to see that her account, which she knew only had 270 yuan, had already been frozen.

Ms. Bao went to the court on October 30 as instructed and told judge Li Zhenxing that she couldn’t afford to pay the fine. She added that she didn’t have any income and that she was caring for her ailing mother. Li then had her fill in a form stating her financial situation. She indicated that she had no assets and then went home. 

The court froze her husband’s bank account on November 13, 2024, and forced him to pay the fine for her before unfreezing the account.