(Minghui.org) The family of a Chongqing resident confirmed in early May 2023 that their loved one has been sentenced to 3.5 years for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Xu Xiaoqin was arrested on February 27, 2020 while buying groceries. The police took her keys and raided her residence. Her Falun Gong books and computer were confiscated. After taking her to the hospital for a physical examination, the police brought her to the police station and restrained her in a tiger bench. They interrogated her, claiming that they saw her distributing Falun Gong materials through surveillance cameras. She was released on bail around next noon.
Ms. Xu was arrested again in April 2021. The police ransacked her home a day later, seizing her computer and other personal items. She has been held at the Yongchuan District Detention Center since. The authorities later secretly sentenced her to 3.5 years. She has filed an appeal against the verdict.
Past Persecution
Ms. Xu took up Falun Gong in 2010. Prior to her latest sentence, she was previously held in the local brainwashing center four times and sentenced twice to 3 and 1.5 years, respectively. Her husband, Mr. Yao Rongxuan, a retired military officer who also practices Falun Gong, was arrested several times with her. He was sentenced to 5 years in 2017.
Four Brainwashing Center Detentions
Ms. Xu and Mr. Yao were arrested together on April 16, 2012 and taken to the local brainwashing center. After ten days, Mr. Yao was transferred to the Yongchuan District Detention Center and detained there until December 8, 2012.
Before Mr. Yao was released, Ms. Xu was arrested again on November 5, 2012 and detained at the brainwashing center until November 30, 2012.
A group of officers used an electric drill to break into the couple’s home on July 2, 2017. Ms. Xu was taken to the brainwashing center for the third time and detained until July 31 that year.
She was arrested another time on September 22, 2017. The 7,000 yuan cash she had was confiscated. She was first detained at the Jiulongpo Detention Center for 37 days, and then transferred to the brainwashing center. She was released on November 13, 2017.
Three-Year Prison Sentence
The residential committee directors drilled open and smashed the couple’s door on the morning of April 11, 2013 and arrested Ms. Xu. She was detained for 28 days.
Ms. Xu was arrested on May 1, 2014 after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. She was tied to a tiger bench at the police station. Officer Huang Huishu shouted at her, “If you don’t answer our questions, I will have the rapists next door come over and rape you.”
Torture illustration: tiger bench
Ms. Xu was taken to the Yongchuan District Detention Center the next day and sentenced to three years by the Yongchuan District Court three months later. She was taken to the Chongqing Women’s Prison in late August 2014.
The prison guards and inmates kept ordering Ms. Xu to renounce Falun Gong. They forced her to watch slanderous videos and read propaganda books. She was also forced to hand-copy and memorize prison rules. She wasn’t allowed to sleep until 3 a.m. The guards refused to provide utensils for her to have meals, unless she verbally abused Falun Gong.
The guards also added toxic drugs into her food or forced her to take the pills directly. The inmates restricted her restroom use, forced her to stand for long hours and beat her when she dozed off. They sometimes slapped her in the face or pulled her hair. In the winter, they poured cold water over her head or into her clothes. They also stripped her to her underwear and forced her to stand in the hallway, where it was very windy. Her daily actions were closely monitored by the inmates and she wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone.
When Ms. Xu’s term ended on August 30, 2016 (ahead of time), instead of releasing her, the authorities took her to the police station and forced her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong, before allowing her to go home.
Husband’s Five-Year Sentence
Ms. Xu and Mr. Yao were arrested together on April 6, 2017 and had their home ransacked. They were taken to the Yongchuan District Detention Center in the evening. Although Ms. Xu was released one month later on May 5, Mr. Yao was kept in custody and sentenced to five years in Yongchuan Prison by the Yongchuan District Court.
Mr. Yao went on a hunger strike to protest in the prison and was force-fed. His front teeth were knocked out and he almost died.
Second Prison Sentence of 1.5 Years
While Mr. Yao was still serving time, the police again used an electric drill to break into their home on April 24, 2018 and ransacked it.
Ms. Xu was arrested on May 7, 2018 by the police who were following her, when she was talking to people about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home again the next day. She was held in solitary confinement and forced to wear handcuffs and shackles for five days at the Yongchuan District Detention Center. She was transferred to the Jiulongpo District Detention Center on July 6 that year and later to the Chongqing Women’s Prison in March 2019, after she was secretly sentenced to 1.5 years. She returned home on November 6, 2019.
Related reports:
Chongqing Couple Repeatedly Persecuted for Their Faith—Husband Still Imprisoned
Retired Military Officer Again Tortured to the Brink of Death; Wife Detained for the Third Time
One Judge, Two Trials, Three Citizens Indicted for Their Faith
Impossible to Transform Ms. Xu Xiaoqin in Brainwashing Center
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