(Minghui.org) A 71-year-old woman in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province is facing trial for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Three local detention facilities had declined to admit Ms. Zhao Guirong, but a police chief managed to get her indicted on August 22, 2023. She is now out on bail awaiting trial.
Ms. Zhao, a retired hotel worker, was arrested on April 8, 2023, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong in Mazhuang Town, Xianyang City. The arresting officers from the Mazhuang Town Police Station took her to the Xianyang City Lockup the next day, but the latter refused to take her due to her advanced age. Officer Chen Haitao reported this to high-ups and was instructed to keep Ms. Zhao at the Caihong Police Department overnight.
On April 10, the police took Ms. Zhao for a physical examination before driving her to Qindu Detention Center, which denied her admission on the grounds that she once went on a hunger strike there during her previous detention for practicing Falun Gong.
The Caihong Police Department then tried to take Ms. Zhao to the Xianyang City 215 Police Hospital on April 11. The hospital also declined to admit her due to her advanced age and hunger strike, as she had refused to eat since her arrest.
Ms. Zhao was kept at the police department for three more days. Her son picked her up on April 14 after paying 2,000 yuan as her bail bond.
The Caihong Police Department dispatched agents to monitor Ms. Zhao and didn’t allow her to have contact with anyone. The local Political and Legal Affairs Committee (an extra-judicial agency tasked with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong) and the street committee kept harassing her at home, severely disrupting her family’s life.
Wei Guangrong (+86-13892061189), deputy chief of the Caihong Police Department, twice instructed his officers to carry Ms. Zhao from her third-floor apartment to their police cruiser and drive her to the Qindu District Procuratorate to be deposed. The first time, on April 27, the police didn’t know that the prosecutor in charge of her case had been transferred away, so they had to take Ms. Zhao home without getting anything done. The second time, on May 12, prosecutor Huang Yuan deposed Ms. Zhao, but she refused to answer any questions.
On June 7, Wei instructed his officers to take Ms. Zhao to their police department for interrogation.
Two people from the procuratorate delivered a summons to Ms. Zhao on July 18. The procuratorate delivered an indictment against her to the Qindu District Court on August 22. They also gave Ms. Zhao a copy of the indictment on the same day.
Ms. Zhao was ordered to undergo a physical examination at the aforementioned police hospital on September 14, in preparation for her court hearing, the timing of which has yet to be determined.
Past Persecution
Ms. Zhao and her husband both took up Falun Gong in August 1998 and soon became healthy. Ms. Zhao’s cervical spondylosis (inflammatory arthritis of the spine), skin diseases, migraines, gastritis, and gynecological diseases disappeared without medical treatment. Her husband also recovered from his severe cervical spondylosis, prostatitis, internal and external hemorrhoids, and anal prolapse before he knew it.
After the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Zhao was given five forced labor terms, totaling nine years. She was brutally tortured each time she was in detention and became incapacitated at one point.
When she was not in detention, Ms. Zhao lived away from home for many years in order to avoid further arrests.
Related Report:
Ms. Zhao Guirong and Other Practitioners Abused at Shaanxi Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp
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