73-Year-Old Sentenced to One Year for Raising Awareness of the Persecution of Her Faith

(Minghui.org) For giving out informational materials about her faith in Falun Gong to a village official, a 73-year-old woman in Shifang City, Sichuan Province was sentenced to one year in prison.

Ms. Zhu Chaobing was arrested on March 23, 2020, after being reported by the village secretary for trying to “promote” Falun Gong to him.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

The police ransacked Ms. Zhu’s home and confiscated over 40 Falun Gong books and informational materials. She was released after 15 days of detention. The police installed a surveillance camera outside of her front door and said she wasn’t allowed to go out at will.

In October 2020, the authorities suspended her pension without providing any explanation.

The police and village officials harassed her on November 5, 2020, and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong. They threatened Ms. Zhu’s son and daughter-in-law that if Ms. Zhu refused to renounce Falun Gong, their own children wouldn’t be allowed to go to college or find a job. Ms. Zhu refused to comply and tried to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to the officials, but they refused to listen.

Ms. Zhu was reported again on November 10 for talking to people about Falun Gong. Police officers came in two cars and confiscated her three Falun Gong books, two desktop calendars with information about Falun Gong, and other materials. They harassed her one more time in December 2020.

On January 6, 2021, Ms. Zhu was informed by the Shifang City Court that she was released on bail for one year and was allowed to hire a lawyer.

Ms. Zhu was made to stand trial on April 16 and sentenced to one year. She was taken back into custody right after the trial. She is now held at the Deyang City Supervision Center and waiting to be assigned to a prison.