(Minghui.org) The family of a Pingshan County, Hebei Province, woman imprisoned for her faith in Falun Gong hasn't been allowed to visit her or keep in touch by mail or phone since her arrest nearly two years ago. They are very worried about her, especially since the region has seen a surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Su Mingxia, 53, was arrested on February 2, 2019, while talking to people about Falun Gong at a local market. After one year of incommunicado detention in the Shijiazhuang No.2 Detention Center, she was sentenced to four and a half years in the Zhengding County Court and taken to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison, where she was still denied family visits.
Ms. Su took up Falun Gong in 1998 and credits the practice for improving her health. After the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999, she has been arrested and detained multiple times for upholding her faith.
On July 20, 1999, Ms. Su set out for Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong but was arrested halfway and taken back to Pingshan County. The police confiscated all her cash and impounded her bike. She was released after paying a 150-yuan fine.
On one occasion, Ms. Su did the Falun Gong exercises outside the county police department to protest the persecution. The police dragged her into the building and hit and kicked her. The officers also burnt her with cigarette butts and ordered her to verbally abuse Falun Gong. She was covered with bruises.
Ms. Su was arrested again on July 23, 2008.
The police harassed her at home on July 24, 2017. One officer took pictures of her Falun Gong books and attempted to find out where she got them, but she refused to answer their questions.
She was arrested one more time, on July 14, 2018, for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home and attempted to extort 800 yuan from her family. She was released after 15 days of detention.
