(Minghui.org) A Tonghua City, Jilin Province resident was secretly sentenced to three years for practicing Falun Gong, after the police failed to blackmail her family.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice that has been suppressed by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Lin Guolan, 70, was arrested on December 25, 2021 after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Eight officers ransacked her home on the next day and confiscated her over 100 Falun Gong books, four pictures of Falun Gong’s founder, three laptops, two printers, cartridges, media player and other Falun Gong keepsakes.

Ms. Lin was held at the Changliu Detention Center. Her arrest was approved by the Tonghua County Procuratorate on January 5, 2022, and her case was soon forwarded to the Liuhe County Procuratorate. The police threatened to have her sentenced to 3-7 years if her family didn’t pay them 50,000 to 70,000 yuan within a month.

Ms. Lin’s family refused to pay the extortion. They recently learned that she was sentenced to three years and has been taken to the Jilin Province Women’s Prison in early September 2022.

Ms. Lin took up Falun Gong in 1996. Soon after, her insomnia and headaches disappeared. But after the persecution started in 1999, her husband attempted to force her to renounce her faith, fearing being implicated. When she refused to give in, he beat her until she was covered with bruises. She had to stay in bed for a week to recover.

In another incident, her husband refused to open the door when she returned home and left her staying outside for over two hours when it was -22 °F. He had also beat her on the street and cut open her winter jacket from behind with a knife. She was forced to divorce later on and lived a displaced life for a period of time.