(Minghui.org) Two women from Liupanshan City, Guizhou Province, were sentenced to prison on March 19, 2019, for talking to people about Falun Gong, a mind and body self-improvement practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhao Yingcui, 82, was sentenced to five and a half years and fined 8,000 yuan. Ms. Deng Guixian, 69, received six years with a 10,000-yuan fine.
The prosecutor asked the judge to increase his previously recommended sentences at the end of the hearing on December 13, 2018, after the women pleaded “not guilty” instead of “guilty” as the prosecutor had ordered them to do.
Ms. Zhao was arrested on October 16, 2017, and Ms. Deng in June 2018, both of them for talking to people about Falun Gong. They have each been sentenced twice before for not renouncing their faith.
Ms. Zhao Yingcui
Ms. Zhao is a retired elementary school teacher. She used to suffer from many serious ailments and was in constant pain. She had nerve-blocking injections for pain management, but the doctor's carelessness caused damage to her nervous system and she began to lean to the right when she walked or stood. The pain made her quick to lose her temper and pick fights with her husband.
Most of her conditions went away after she learned Falun Gong in May 1997. She said she was healthier during the past two decades than when she was much younger.
Because Ms. Zhao shared her story with others, she was targeted by the authorities and sentenced to four years in prison twice, first on April 10, 2008, and then on December 14, 2012. She served the second term outside of the prison.
Ms. Deng Guixian
Ms. Deng also suffered from severe health problems, including uterine fibroids, Meniere's disease, a herniated lumbar disc, and stomach issues. She credits Falun Gong for her good health over the past 20 years.
Because she shared how she benefitted from practicing Falun Gong, she was sentenced to seven years on April 18, 2006, and four years on December 14, 2012.
In Yang'ai Prison (also known as Guizhou Province No.1 Prison), she was beaten, verbally abused, and made to do forced labor. She was emaciated by the time her term ended.
Two Elderly Women Tried for Talking to People about Their Faith