After More Than a Decade of Incarceration, Elderly Woman Arrested Again for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old woman in Luzhou City, Sichuan Province was arrested in late March 2023 and has been detained since. 

This is not the first time that Ms. Wu Derong has been targeted for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999. Having had her nasal cancer and many other ailments cured through practicing Falun Gong, Ms. Wu has never wavered in her faith, even in the face of the persecution. Prior to her latest arrest, she had been incarcerated for ten years and five months for upholding her faith, including two years and eight months in a brainwashing center, fifteen months in a forced labor camp, as well as two prison terms totaling six and a half years.

Over a Decade of Incarceration and Torture

Ms. Wu was arrested on December 30, 2000, as the police attempted to prevent her from going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The police pressured both her and her husband’s employers to fire them, leaving the family in dire financial straits.

On January 3, 2001, four days after Ms. Wu’s arrest, the police ransacked her home when no one was present. Her Falun Gong books, an mp3, a speaker and 1,500 yuan in cash were confiscated.

Ms. Wu was transferred to a brainwashing center in January 2001. She was detained there for two years and eight months. The brainwashing center changed location six times, and the authorities never notified her family of the new contact information. She wasn’t released until the brainwashing center was closed down.

Ms. Wu was arrested again on March 7, 2004, only six months after she was released from the brainwashing center. She was given a 15-month term at Nanmusi Women’s Forced Labor Camp. After the labor camp guards refused to admit her due to her high blood pressure, the police deceived them into accepting her by promising to come back soon and pick her up after they finished a task in the nearby Chengdu City. But they never came back for Ms. Wu. 

While serving time in the labor camp, Ms. Wu was forced to stand or sit still from 6 a.m. to 2 to 3 a.m. the next day. She often fainted from exhaustion. Each time, instead of giving her medical attention, the guards woke her up and continued the abuse. As a result, her legs became badly swollen. She was also deprived of sleep.

In addition to the physical torture, Ms. Wu was also forced to work for long hours without pay. The work of separating black bristles from the white ones under dim light quickly weakened her eyesight. She was also ordered to carry heavy objects and barely had time to rest. She wasn’t allowed bathroom breaks when she needed them. The guards sometimes forced her to run laps. When she couldn’t move anymore, the guards instigated other prisoners to drag her and force her to keep running.

Ms. Wu was arrested again on September 10, 2008, along with five other practitioners, for distributing Falun Gong materials. At the Hejiang Detention Center, she was held in solitary confinement and immobilized in a spread-eagle position for 48 days. The bed was stained with blood, and she wasn’t allowed to take showers during that entire time.

The six practitioners were indicted by the Hejiang County Procuratorate on March 25, 2009 and sentenced by the Hejiang County Court on June 15, 2009. Ms. Wu was given 3.5 years in prison.

Ms. Wu was arrested again on the afternoon of December 16, 2015. Her home was ransacked and she was held at the police station until 8 p.m. 

While watching TV at home with her husband on September 18, 2017, the power was suddenly cut off. Ms. Wu opened the door to check the situation, only to have a group of officers barge in. They searched her place and took Ms. Wu to the Naxi Detention Center that evening. The Naxi District Court sentenced her to three years with a 5,000-yuan fine yuan on December 4, 2018, accusing her of putting up Falun Gong flyers in the community. She was taken to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison in early 2019. She was released on September 17, 2021, only to be arrested again one and a half years later.

Related reports:

Released after Three Years in Prison, Elderly Woman Recounts Illegal Arrest and Prosecution

Sichuan Woman Sentenced to Three Years for Her Faith After Secret Trial

Woman Whose Cancer Disappeared by Practicing Falun Gong Now Persecuted for Her Practice

Six Practitioners Unconstitutionally Prosecuted By Hejiang County Procuratorate in Sichuan Province