(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old resident of Ju’nan County, Shandong Province was sentenced to a one-year prison term in September 2024, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Mao Dejun, a retired physics teacher, was arrested on October 27, 2023. About twenty agents from the Ju’nan County Domestic Security Division, the Kaifa District Police Station, and the Ju’nan County Political and Legal Affairs Committee descended on Jinbi Garden Community, where Ms. Mao lives, at around 10 a.m. that day. They approached her husband, who was exercising outside, and forced him to go back to the home and open the door for them. As soon as Ms. Mao returned home, they seized her.
Captain Peng Zhimin of the Ju’nan County Police Department interrogated Ms. Mao at the Kaifa District Police Station. He revealed that they had been monitoring her since June 2003. He released her on bail at around 6 p.m. that day.
The police later submitted Ms. Mao’s case to the Linshu County Procuratorate. Both Linshu County and Ju’nan County are under the administration of Linyi City.
Ms. Mao was indicted, and her case was forwarded to the Linshu County Court on June 17, 2024. Her lawyer defended her innocence during her two hearings (dates unknown), but judge Wang Yun still sentenced her to one year in prison. She picked up the verdict on September 23, 2024.
Ms. Mao was taken back into custody at the Linyi City Detention Center after her conviction. Her lawyer visited her on September 27, 2024. It is unclear whether she intended to file an appeal.
Prior 1.5-Year Prison Term
Ms. Mao developed pleurisy (an inflammation of the lung linings) in 1978 and suffered complications of chest tightness, coughing, and other symptoms. She also developed a severe gynecological disease and had a hysterectomy in November 1997. She was so weak that she once fainted at work. Her conditions kept worsening and she became bedridden in August 1998. Two months later, she was introduced to Falun Gong and soon recovered from all her symptoms. Because of her positive experience with Falun Gong, she held firm to her faith after the communist regime began to persecute the peaceful practice in July 1999.
Ms. Mao and several other local practitioners were arrested after 6 p.m. on August 11, 2020. The police confiscated her personal belongings valued at several tens of thousands of yuan. Her arrest was formally approved on the third day. After being held in a metal cage at the Chengxi Police Station for a few days, she was transferred to a quarantine location in the Linyi Hospital on August 14. She was later moved to the Linyi City Detention Center.
The Ju’nan County Domestic Security Division submitted her case to the Linshu County Procuratorate on October 19, 2020, and she was indicted on November 19 of that year.
The Linshu County Court held a virtual hearing of Ms. Mao’s case at 9 a.m. on December 1, 2020. Her lawyer from Beijing refuted prosecutor Wang Jian’s allegations against her and emphasized that she had broken no laws by practicing Falun Gong. Judge Wu Shufang nonetheless sentenced her to one and a half years on December 8, 2020. She finished serving time in February 2022, only to be arrested again in October 2023 and given another one-year prison term.
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