(Minghui.org) An 81-year-old Kunming City, Yunnan Province resident was recently sentenced to one year for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Yanyun, a retired chief nurse, gave a former colleague a calendar about Falun Gong on September 27, 2021 and was reported by the colleague’s son, who was working for the Ministry of State Security. The police broke into her home the next day and arrested her. Hundreds of Falun Gong books and four photos of Falun Gong’s founder were confiscated.
After a thorough physical examination, Ms. Li was taken to the Kunming City Detention Center on September 29. Due to her advanced age and serious symptoms of emphysema (damaged air sacs of the lungs) and vascular sclerosis, the guards refused to admit her. She was released after paying a 1,000 yuan bail bond.
The police constantly harassed Ms. Li during her one-year bail period. In July 2022, an officer surnamed Ma summoned Ms. Li and told her that according to an order from above, they were submitting her case to the Xishan District Procuratorate.
Ms. Li was summoned by prosecutor Wang Kejing in August 2022. He questioned her whether she still practiced Falun Gong and whether she agreed to plead guilty for practicing Falun Gong. He also showed her a photo taken at her home and asked her whether the Falun Gong books in the photo were hers. He promised to give her a light sentence if she pleaded guilty; otherwise she would receive a heavy term.
Ms. Li refused to answer his questions. She maintained that she didn’t violate any law in practicing Falun Gong, and that the authorities were persecuting her.
On November 11, 2022, officer Ma showed Ms. Li two photos of her taken by the street surveillance cameras and questioned whether she often went out to talk to people about Falun Gong. She remained silent.
Ms. Li appeared in the Xishan District Court on November 16. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. The judges, Deng Rui, Ma Qianqian and Deng Huiyuan, sentenced her to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine on charges of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard (though false) pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong in China.
Ms. Li believes that the judges abused the law in prosecuting her. She appealed with the Kunming City Intermediate Court, demanding the trial court acquit her and the police return her confiscated personal properties.
Ms. Li said in the appeal that the Falun Gong books confiscated from her only served to show that she is a Falun Gong practitioner. The Chinese publication bureau lifted the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011, so it’s completely fine for her to have the books at home. The books teach the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, which are beneficial to society.
Related report:
81-year-old Retired Chief Nurse Faces Prosecution for Giving Calendar to Former Colleague
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