(Minghui.org) After seven months of detention in a psychiatric hospital, a 65-year-old woman was sentenced to seven years for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Yanqun, a Foshan City, Guangdong Province resident, was arrested at home on March 17, 2020. The authorities kept her family in the dark of her whereabouts. It took her daughter two months to find out that she has been detained in the Foshan City No.3 People’s Hospital, a well-known local psychiatric hospital.
The authorities blocked Ms. Li’s lawyer from visiting her or representing her in the virtual hearing held by the Chancheng District Court on August 5, 2020. Two of her family members were allowed to watch the hearing in a separate room, but they said the audio effect was very poor and they could hardly hear what was said.
The judge informed Ms. Li’s lawyer on October 21, 2020, that she has been sentenced to seven years with a 7,000 yuan fine. Her family still doesn’t know where she is being detained at the time of writing.
This is the second time that Ms. Li has been sentenced for her faith, following a previous three-year term given in 2007. Her hands and feet were injured and disfigured as a result of the torture at Guangdong Province Women’s Prison.
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