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Ms. Hu Aiqin Has Been Illegally Sentenced to Eight Years in Xinjiang
 

Ms. Hu Aiqin, a Falun Gong practitioner from Hami City in Xinjiang had been held in custody by the Chinese Communist Party for a year. Around the end of 2007, she was illegally sentenced to another eight years.

After this sentence, the Chinese Communist Party authorities finally allowed family members to visit her by appointment. When her mother went to visit her, an elderly lady with white hair came out. She thought to herself, "I never knew they locked elderly ladies in here." At a closer glance, she realized that the elderly lady was her daughter.

In one year's time, her daughter's black hair had turned white. Ms. Hu's mother became stricken with grief.

Ms. Hu Aiqin is a retired employee of Hami City's Railroad and Gasoline Finance. She was forced to retire because she practices Falun Gong. Before being forced to quit working, she suffered harassment by the police on numerous occasions. After leaving her job, Ms. Hu continued to follow Falun Gong's teachings of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" and continued distributing the truth-clarification flyers.

On January 12, 2007, the local police ransacked Ms. Hu's home and confiscated her property to obtain information about Falun Gong and other practitioners. At the time, Ms. Hu was imprisoned in Hami Detention Center. While in prison, Ms. Hu protested the persecution by going on a hunger strike.

After Hu Aiqin was detained for one year, the police had her sentence increased by seven more years. Ms. Hu had to be carried to the courtroom to attend the hearing. Upon hearing their decision, Ms. Hu refused to accept the sentence and so her sentence was increased by another year. Thus, her sentence now totals eight years.