Liaoning Woman Returns Home After Serving Four Years for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, resident, was released on March 14, 2024 after being incarcerated for four years for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.

Ms. Wang Qiuping was arrested on February 27, 2020 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. She was tried by the Heping District Court on December 9, 2020, and sentenced to four years on December 28 that year. She appealed to the Shenyang City Intermediate Court, which ruled on April 21, 2021 to uphold her verdict.

For nearly three years after Ms. Wang’s arrest in February 2020, the authorities didn’t allow her family to visit her. After she was transferred to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on January 9, 2022, the prison also barred her from calling her family. When her family was finally allowed to see her in early January 2023, Ms. Wang’s hair had turned gray; she was emaciated and couldn’t straighten her back when she walked. The guards closely monitored the visit which only lasted ten minutes.

Ms. Wang told her family after her release that shortly after she was taken to the prison, the guards opened the window to let the freezing wind blow on her, while she was forced to stand barefoot on the concrete ground without being allowed to put on her winter jacket. Any slight movement would result in her being beaten and verbally abused. The standing torture lasted from 6: 30 a.m. to 6: 30 p.m. every day. She couldn’t stop shivering and her legs became severely swollen as a result. She was forced to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong as a result of the torture.

On March 11, 2024, three days before Ms. Wang’s schedule release, the police called her family to confirm her address. The prison also called the family and asked them to arrive before 8:30 a.m. on March 14.

Ms. Wang’s family arrived at the prison at 8 a.m. that day and waited outside of the prison. At 9 a.m., police officer Qi who oversees Ms. Wang’s residence also came. A guard walked out of the prison and handed Qi a pack of documents. Qi wrote something on it.

Ms. Wang walked out of the prison around 10 a.m. Qi ordered her to accompany him to his police station so he could collect her fingerprints and palm print. He also said he would visit Ms. Wang five times a year. Her family criticized him for the ongoing harassment. It’s not clear whether Ms. Wang complied with Qi’s demand.

Related Report:

65-year-old Woman Sentenced to Four Years for Speaking Out for Her Faith