Once Incarcerated for 9.5 Years, 74-year-old Shanghai Woman Again Faces Trial for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A 74-year-old Shanghai resident is facing trial for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Liu Chengying was approached by security personnel on her way to grocery shopping on September 28, 2020. The security person asked for a copy of Falun Gong materials from her and then reported her to the police, which resulted in her being arrested and her home ransacked. Two copies of her calendars with information about Falun Gong were confiscated.

Ms. Liu was indicted on December 11, 2020 and had her case forwarded to the Fengxian District Court. She is now awaiting trial at the Changning District Detention Center.

Ms. Liu took up Falun Gong on July 3, 1994. She used to have a bad temper and a rare kidney condition that caused systemic edema in her. After learning Falun Gong, her condition disappeared and she became a much calmer person.

After the communist regime ordered the persecution in July 1999, she was arrested on October 10, 2000, and sentenced to 5.5 years on November 14.

Less than a year after being released, she was arrested again on January 18, 2007, after being reported for raising awareness about the persecution, and was given a second term of four years.

She served both terms at the Shanghai Women’s Prison. She was forced to work more than ten hours per day without pay, oftentimes knitting sweaters. The workshop was very dim, and after long term of work, she suffered severe vision loss and developed cataracts.

Additionally, she also developed diabetes and wasn’t allowed to take showers. The intensive labor caused her hands to twitch, and she was no longer able to work.

Ms. Liu was arrested again in July 2016 with her sister Ms. Liu Yuzhu, for talking to people about Falun Gong.

Prior to her latest arrest, she and four practitioners, including her sister Ms. Liu Yuzhu, Ms. Jin Xinhua, Ms. Xu Longqin, and Ms. Wu Qiurong, were arrested on April 23, 2019 for talking to people about Falun Gong. Their homes were ransacked and they were detained for one and a half months.