(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Mingxiu of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan on July 2, 2019, for refusing to renounce her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. She is currently being held at the Heilongjiang Women's Prison.
Arrest and Trial
Ms. Li, 46, was arrested on November 9, 2018. Her daughter had a sleep-over at fellow practitioner Ms. He Lixia’s home the night before. When she went over to Ms. He's home to leave her daughter's school uniform the next morning, both she and Ms. He were arrested and taken to Daqing No. 2 Detention Center.
The two women's homes were also ransacked. More than 60 other Falun Gong practitioners in Daqing City were arrested on the same day.
Ms. Li's case was submitted to the Procuratorate, while Ms. He was released on bail on the fifteenth day after she was tortured to the verge of death.
Ms. Li appeared in court to defend herself on June 10, 2019. She was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan on July 2. Her appeal against the verdict was rejected. Ms. Li was sent to prison on October 22.
Previous Arrests
This is not the first time that Ms. Li, who has disabilities in her legs, has been arrested for her faith.
Ms. Li was doing Falun Gong exercises at a local park on May 13, 2000, when she was arrested. At that time, Ms. Li was still breastfeeding her 10-month-old daughter and the baby was forced to be weaned.
In order to have Ms. Li released, her husband paid 2,000 yuan as a “security deposit” and also 150 yuan for her food expenses at the detention center.
Though Ms. Li was released, the police continued to harass her, and prohibited her from returning to her hometown to visit her mother.
Ms. Li was arrested again in 2001, when she was en route to her hometown, two days before the Chinese New Year. Three police officers dragged her from the bus and took her to a brainwashing session.
When Ms. Li refused to write guarantee statements on the tenth day after her arrest, the officers threatened her husband that Ms. Li would be sent to the detention center. With no choice, her husband paid 3,000 yuan as a “security deposit” again and also 300 yuan for food expenses so she could return home.
Benefiting From Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Li had been in poor health since she was young. Her bones became necrotic after she had a fall. She was later recognized by the government as having second-degree disability [disabilities are categorized in ten levels, with the first-degree being the most severe and tenth-degree being the least severe].
Just when Ms. Li had lost hope, she started practicing Falun Gong and her health changed for the better. She could even get down from the bed and start walking, albeit limping a little. As Ms. Li had her health restored, her husband was able to go out to work.
