68-Year-Old Woman Secretly Sentenced for Her Faith, Now Suffering Poor Health in Prison

(Minghui.org) A 68-year-old woman in Qingyuan County, Liaoning Province was sentenced to three and a half years for hanging a banner reading “Falun Dafa is good.” Ms. Zhang Guiping’s health declined while serving time at the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Zhang was arrested on the night of July 30, 2022, while hanging the banner along the road. The arresting officers from Dagujia Town Police Station raided her home hours later.

The Wanghua District Procuratoratein Fushun City, which oversees Qingyuan County, issued a formal arrest warrant against Ms. Zhang in August 2022. The Wanghua District Court sentenced her to three and a half years in April 2023. She was transferred from the Nangou Detention Center to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on June 27, 2023.

Ms. Zhang’s family didn’t learn of her sentencing and prison transfer until recently, when a prison guard called them to say that “she was not in a good shape.” He complained that she was stubborn and refused to renounce Falun Gong.

As the court had never contacted Ms. Zhang’s family during her prosecution, they were not even sure if a hearing was ever held before her sentencing.

Taking Up Falun Gong

Before taking up Falun Gong, Ms. Zhang was tormented by numerous illnesses and weighed less than 80 pounds. She suffered complications from childbirth and her legs hurt badly whenever the weather turned cold. She felt dizzy all the time and was unable to keep food down. She drank alcohol to satisfy her hunger and smoked heavily to numb her pain. Her bad habits induced more health problems and she would cough up yellow phlegm.

Years of medical treatments didn’t help much and she lived in misery. Her fate changed in 1996 when her husband brought home a copy of Zhuan Falun, main teaching of Falun Gong, from an out-of-town trip. She read the book and her illnesses miraculously disappeared. For the first time in decades, she was full of energy and in good spirits. Her family, friends, and acquaintances were in awe of her recovery and many took up Falun Gong as well.

Ms. Zhang also strove to be a better person by following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. She came to the understanding that she should take better care of her parents-in-law. She thus invited them to live with her family and cared for them for many years.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Wu Liang (吴亮), president of Wanghua District Court: [phone]Zhao Jianhua (赵建华), vice president of Wanghua District Court: [phone]Luo Hua (罗华), vice president of Wanghua District Court: [phone]Qin Ming (秦明), chief of Dagujia Town Police Station: [phone]Li Hui (李辉), officer of Dagujia Town Police Station: [phone]