(Minghui.org) A Renqiu City, Hebei Province resident was sentenced to 3.5 years for raising awareness about her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Wang Fenghua was arrested on May 24, 2020 for telling people about the health benefits of Falun Gong at a farmers’ market. She was held at the Qingtaxiang Police Station for two days and her family was extorted over 200,000 yuan by the police. After she was released on May 26, the police made phone calls to her every day and threatened that she wasn’t allowed to go out in three months.

The police later submitted her case to the Renqiu City Procuratorate and the prosecutor began to make phone calls to her family members to harass them. Ms. Wang insisted that she didn’t violate any law in practicing or talking to people about Falun Gong.

Ms. Wang was tried by the Renqiu City Court on November 16 and she acted as her own lawyer and entered a not guilty plea. The court had initially appointed a lawyer for her, but the judge didn’t allow the lawyer to enter a not guilty plea for her.

Ms. Wang was taken back into custody at Renqiu City Detention Center on November 29. The police said they would transfer her to the prison after the Chinese New Year in mid-February 2021.