(Minghui.org) A 68-year-old woman in Chongqing was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison and fined 3,000 yuan for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

Ms. Duan Zaiying has been arrested more than ten times since the persecution began in 1999. Her latest arrest took place on July 7, 2017 while she was talking to people about Falun Gong. Zhou Changcheng, Shi Wanning, and Lin Yan were among the people responsible for her arrest. The police proceeded to ransack her home without showing a search warrant. They also didn't provide her family with a list of confiscated items as required by law.

Ms. Duan was sent to Jishi Town Detention Center that night. Her family wasn't notified of her detention location.

Ms. Duan appeared in Banan District Court on April 20, 2018. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her, as no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. Her husband, Mr. Liu Chuanlu, defended her innocence, and she also testified in her own defense.

The court asked Mr. Lu to provide supplemental materials after the hearing. He did, only to see his wife convicted at the sentencing hearing on June 29.

Ms. Duan is appealing to Chongqing City Fifth Intermediate Court.