69-Year-Old Sichuan Woman Secretly Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison

(Minghui.org) It was recently learned that a 69-year-old woman in Nanchong City, Sichuan Province had been secretly sentenced to three years for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Zhao Changbi’s family only managed to find out that she was admitted to a prison in Chongqing on September 30, 2023, but they do not know exactly which prison she is being held at or which court convicted her when.

The sentencing of Ms. Zhao, who lives in Baoshamiao Village, Lidu Town, Jialing District, Nanchong City, stemmed from a police raid of her home on November 24, 2021. She was tending to her clothing booth that day when officer Feng Ziyang from the Jialing District Domestic Security Office, manager Lin Hong of Lidu Town, and several agents from the Hantang Police Station suddenly showed up and demanded to have her home key.

She refused to comply and they called in two officials from Baoshamiao Village, including secretary Hu Xiaoquan and Deng Donglin, to lead them to her home, with a locksmith in tow. They broke into Ms. Zhao’s home and confiscated a large number of valuables, including a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder, many Falun Gong books, 1,300 yuan in cash, two printers, two laptops, dozens of ink bottles, print paper, a paper cutter, three staplers, a music player, two flash drives, and decorative couplets.

Her 15-year-old son was taking a nap when the police broke in. They forced him to sign and fingerprint the list of confiscated items but without allowing him to tally the items.

The police returned to Ms. Zhao’s clothing booth on December 8, 2021, and arrested her. She was taken to the Nanchong City Detention Center. Her family has since received no official updates on her case status. While they learned about her prison sentence recently, they still know nothing about the details of her indictment, trial, or sentencing.

This is not the first time that Ms. Zhao has been targeted for her faith in Falun Gong. She recounted in 2015 how Falun Gong transformed her life but she was arrested four times in the past and served a one-year forced labor term.

Life Renewed Through Practicing Falun Gong

Ms. Zhao used to suffer from severe anemia (with a hemoglobin count of 7 grams per deciliter when a normal range for females is 12-16 g/dl), frozen shoulder, esophagitis, and other diseases. She was hospitalized numerous times and spent a fortune on medical care, but nothing worked. Life was painful and torturous for her.

Her fate changed in February 1997 when she took up Falun Gong at the recommendation of a friend. Her symptoms disappeared in just a few months and she was also no longer competitive, quick-tempered, or overbearing. She stopped reprimanding her husband and child and became a more loving wife and mother.

Paraded Through Streets Following First Arrest

Ms. Zhao went to Beijing on September 26, 2000, to appeal for Falun Gong and was arrested as soon as she got there. She was held at a tea house in Beijing for seven days, during which time she was watched around the clock and not allowed to step outside even once. She had to sleep on the ground every night and was tortured during the day.

Official Hu Xiaoping from the Lidu Town Government, as well as chief Kou Yu and officer Deng Yan from the Hantang Police Station, picked Ms. Zhao up on the eighth day. Deng seized more than 200 yuan from her, but never issued a receipt or returned the money later on.

Ms. Zhao and another Nanchong practitioner who also went to Beijing to appeal were put on a train back to Nanchong on October 3, 2000. During the two-day train ride, the two practitioners’ hands were cuffed together around the clock. When one had to use the toilet, the other had to tag along.

Upon arriving in Nanchong, Ms. Zhao was taken straight to the Jialing District Police Department and soon moved to the Nanchong City Detention Center to serve 12 days of detention. The detention center director and a section chief instructed an inmate to search Ms. Zhao and confiscate the more than 1,000 yuan cash she still had with her. They used about 800 yuan to purchase food for themselves. It was unclear whether they returned the remaining 200 yuan to Ms. Zhao.

During her detention, official Hu and chief Kou dispatched a group of officers to raid her home and confiscate her furniture and TV. They also forced her husband and some other villagers to build a platform in a certain place in Lidu Town.

Ms. Zhao was then taken out of the detention center to be paraded through the streets before being made to stand on the platform. Some locals were then instigated to humiliate and verbally attack her for her faith in Falun Gong.

After she was released, Ms. Zhao was forced to pay 300 yuan and attend meetings at the Ludu Town Government to be reprimanded for her faith in Falun Gong. The police never returned her TV and furniture. They, along with the government officials and local street committee workers, harassed her many times and ordered her to seek permission from them whenever she wanted to visit family or friends.

Detained for 57 Days Following Second Arrest

Officer Feng from the Jialing District Domestic Security Office who arrested Ms. Zhao most recently also arrested her in the past while he was still working at the Hantang Police Station. On January 21, 2001, he deceived her into going to the Lidu Town Government to “have a meeting,” only to have her arrested by Yan Song and a few other officers from the Jialing District Police Department, which oversees the Jialing District Domestic Security Office.

Ms. Zhao was taken to the Jialing District Detention Center and held there for 57 days. She was ordered to recite detention center rules and write statements to renounce her faith every day. The guards also had her mop the floor and clean the toilet as punishment. Her family was not allowed to visit her even once.

The Lidu Town government officials, police, and street committee workers kept harassing Ms. Zhao after she was released.

Given One Year of Forced Labor After the Third Arrest

Ms. Zhao went to Lidu Town to put up Falun Gong flyers on April 30, 2001, and was reported. Official Hu, chief Kou, and officer Feng seized her from home on May 4 that year, before she had a chance to have dinner. They interrogated her at the Hantang Police Station for several hours without giving her any food or water. They then took her to the Jialing District Police Department at around 1 a.m. She faced further interrogation there until past 4 a.m. An officer slapped her in the face.

At 8 a.m. on May 1, 2001, Ms. Zhao was taken to the Jialing District Detention Center, where she was again ordered to renounce her faith, recite detention center rules, mop the floor, clean the toilet, and do farm work. The food was very poor and unsanitary. Ms. Zhao soon became emaciated due to malnutrition and abuse.

The police gave her one year of forced labor at an unknown date without allowing her to appeal.

Ms. Zhao was transferred to the Nanmusi Women’s Labor Camp in Zizhong County, Sichuan Province on August 15, 2001. She was forced to watch anti-Falun Gong videos every day and not allowed to talk to others or do the Falun Gong exercises. Her phone calls with her family were closely monitored. Due to abuse, she had a relapse of some of her old illnesses.

Ms. Zhao faced constant harassment after she was released. One day during the 2008 Olympic Games, seven officers, including Feng, showed up and pounded on her front and back doors. Her son, then an infant, was terrified and cried non-stop. The police confiscated one Falun Gong book and left without arresting her.

Arrested a Fourth Time While On-route to Qinghai Province

Ms. Zhao boarded a train to Qinghai Province on May 25, 2015, as she planned to do odd jobs there. When the train stopped in Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, the railroad police confiscated her ID, luggage, cell phone, cash, Falun Gong books, MP4 player, and MP5 player, while doing security checks on the passengers. They kept her at the police office at the train station for more than ten hours, during which time she was restrained in a metal chair and not allowed to eat or use the restroom.

Two officers from Lidu Town came to interrogate her for hours before taking her back to Lidu. They handcuffed her during the entire trip until they arrived at the Handu Town Police Station. By then her wrists had become very swollen.

The Guangyuan police never returned the confiscated items to Ms. Zhao. Without an ID, she struggled to just live a normal life. The local authorities kept harassing her in the years that followed. She and her family lived in fear.