(Minghui.org) A woman who was once arrested when she was pregnant, then arrested again when her daughter was one-year-and-three-months old, was sentenced to a five-year prison term in late 2020 for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Kuang Deying, a Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province resident in her 50s, was arrested at her apartment on September 24, 2019, after the police found that she had visited a practitioner in Kunming City in the same province.
Accusing her of possessing Falun Gong materials, the Xishan District Procuratorate indicted her and moved her case to the Xishan District Court.
During her hearing on November 20, 2020, her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her and argued against the lack of legal basis for the persecution. The judge sentenced her to five years with a 10,000-yuan fine, only because Falun Gong books and materials were found at her home.
Past Persecution
Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Kuang had been arrested multiple times for her faith. She served two labor camp terms and one prison term, totaling more than nine years.
She was first arrested in February 2000 and detained for a month. She was arrested in July 2000 on her way to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The local detention center refused to accept her because she was pregnant.
Ms. Kuang was arrested again on January 6, 2002, for distributing Falun Gong-related materials. The police ransacked her home and gave her two years of forced labor. During her incarceration, her 67-year-old ailing mother struggled to care for her two daughters, ages 10 and a year and three months.
The labor camp guards arbitrarily extended her term for six months. When her mother and a few other practitioners went to the appeals office to complain about it on June 25, 2004, the police arrested them. Some practitioners were interrogated and taken to the local brainwashing center. The police said to them, “It’s illegal for Falun Gong to file an appeal.”
In November 2004, four months after Ms. Kuang returned home, she was taken back into custody after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials, and given another three years of forced labor in May 2005. While serving time at the Kunming City Forced Labor Camp, she was constantly beaten and slapped in the face.
Ms. Kuang was arrested one more time on July 16, 2008, two months after she was released. The police beat and verbally abused her when she refused to cooperate with the interrogation. She was secretly sentenced to four years in December 2008 by the Qiaojia County Court. Unable to bear the persecution, her husband divorced her.
Ms. Kuang was forced to sit on a small stool for 16 hours each day at the Yunnan Province No. 2 Women’s Prison, because she refused to renounce Falun Gong. As the guards forbade her from buying daily necessities, she had to use her old clothes to clean herself when she was menstruating. She didn’t have enough clothing to stay warm during the winter.
Related reports:
Seven Yunnan Residents Tried for Their Faith
Kunming City, Yunnan Province: Eight Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison
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Category: Accounts of Persecution
