(Minghui.org) A Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, woman was recently transferred to Yunnan Province Women’s Prison to serve a seven-year sentence for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Li Lingzhen, a former elementary school teacher in her 50s, was arrested on March 23, 2020, after being reported by security personnel for talking to people about Falun Gong in a mall. The police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, computer, and 20,000 yuan in cash.

Because the local detention center refused to accept her during the pandemic, she was released on bail. She was summoned to the procuratorate several times after that, but she refused to go and insisted she didn’t do anything wrong in practicing her faith.

The police broke into her home at night in early January 2021 and took her back into custody.

When Ms. Li was tried in mid-May, a bailiff took her to the courtroom in a wheelchair. The judge sentenced her to seven years in prison.

Prior to her latest term, Ms. Li was given three years in Dabanqiao Women’s Forced Labor Camp in October 2002. She became emaciated as a result of the torture. She gradually recovered after she was able to resume doing the Falun Gong exercises at home. The authorities, however, harassed her from time to time after she was released.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution