(Minghui.org) Two residents of Nong’an County, Jilin Province were sentenced to two years each in August 2023 for exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of their faith, Falun Gong.
Ms. Yu Fengzhen, 70, and Ms. Yu Yongqin, 61, were arrested on May 7, 2023, while talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong at a fair in nearby Dehui City, which, like Nong’an County, is also under the administration of the capital city of Changchun.
The arresting officers from the Tongtai Township Police Station took the two women to the Dehui City Lockup. They were later transferred to the Dehui City Detention Center. Ms. Yu Yongqin became gravely ill at one point and was released on bail. She was taken back into custody after both women were sentenced in August 2023. Both of them were admitted to the Jilin Province Women’s Prison (located in Changchun) on August 15, 2023.
The details of their indictment, trial, and sentencing aren’t clear.
Past Persecution of Ms. Yu Fengzhen
Ms. Yu Fengzhen took up Falun Gong on February 14, 1998 and soon recovered from her migraines, back pain, and gynecological diseases. Amazed by her miraculous recovery, her two sisters and one brother-in-law, her mother-in-law, as well as her husband’s two sisters and one brother-in-law all joined her in the practice one after another.
After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, Ms. Yu was arrested multiple times. Her mother-in-law lived in fear and died in distress.
Two days before the 2010 Mid-Autumn Festival (on September 22), Ms. Yu was arrested at home by the Binhe Police Station officers. They took her to Zhongying Hotel (which the authorities used as a brainwashing center) and held her there for six days, during which time she was forced to watch and read Falun Gong-smearing propaganda.
The Tongtai Township Police Station officers arrested Ms. Yu in November 2013 after receiving a tip that she was distributing calendars bearing Falun Gong messages. They restrained her in a tiger bench and interrogated her. She was detained for 15 days and extorted 1,500 yuan.
Ms. Yu was studying Falun Gong teachings at home on the night of one November day in 2014 when officers from the Debiao Police Station broke in and arrested her. They held her at a local lockup for five days before taking her to the Changchun City Drug Rehabilitation Center. She was tortured for ten days there and became severely ill. Only then did the police release her.
Past Persecution of Ms. Yu Yongqin
Ms. Yu Yongqin took up Falun Gong in March 1999 and held firm to her faith after the persecution began four months later.
The Binhe Police Station officers arrested her at home in August 2002 and held her at a senior center for 12 days, during which time she was ordered to renounce her faith.
Ms. Yu went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in November 2002 and was arrested in Tiananmen Square. She was escorted back to Nong’an County and given a fine.
Ms. Yu went to visit another Falun Gong practitioner on September 15, 2010 and was arrested there. It’s unclear whether the police had targeted that practitioner or her in the first place. She was held at the same Zhongying Hotel for seven days.
The Debiao Police Station and the Binhe Police Station together arrested Ms. Yu at home on March 30, 2016 and took her to the Nong’an County Police Department. They restrained her in a tiger bench and interrogated her. The Debiao Police Station later extorted 10,000 yuan from her.
Ms. Yu was arrested at home on January 3, 2018, again by the Debiao Police Station officers. They took her to the Nong’an County Police Department for interrogation. She was later moved to the Weizigou Lockup in Changchun City and held there for ten days.
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