(Minghui.org) A woman in Dashiqiao City was recently sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for saying yes to the question, “Do you still practice Falun Gong?”
Falun Gong is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999.
This is not the first time that Ms. Ma Suyuan has been targeted for refusing to renounce Falun Gong. Back in 2007, she was given five years in prison. Her husband, who had fallen ill during her imprisonment, died shortly after she was released. She struggled to care for her middle daughter, who has a mental disability, on her own.
Ms. Ma’s latest sentence followed her arrest on August 29, 2017. She returned from work to see some officers already in her home. She knew that one of them was Liang Yubin, who had harassed her before for her faith.
They questioned if she still practiced Falun Gong. She said yes and was taken to the local police station. Once there, she was asked the same question, and gave the same answer. The police then drove her straight to Yingkou Detention Center.
Ms. Ma’s lawyer requested to have her case dropped, but prosecutor Sun Changyou still indicted her. She appeared in court on November 24.
Prosecutor Sun alleged that the more than 80 Falun Gong books confiscated from Ms. Ma’s home amounted to enough evidence against her. Her lawyer countered that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that his client had every right to own Falun Gong books. He demanded Ms. Ma’s acquittal.
Ms. Ma’s children were informed on December 20 that she had been convicted.
