(Minghui.org) A 74-year-old Shulan City, Jilin Province resident was sentenced to one year in late November 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Han Yuzhen was arrested on June 5, 2024, during a mass arrest of over 50 local Falun Gong practitioners. Like her, several other arrested residents were also in their 70s. While she was released unconditionally back then, officers of the Shulan City Police Department began to harass her again in September and submitted her case to the Shulan City Procuratorate.
Ms. Han appeared in the Shulan City Court on October 21 and was allowed to go home afterwards. Three officers descended on her home on October 29 and threatened to take her back into custody if she didn’t change her not-guilty plea to a guilty one. She maintained that she didn’t violate any law in practicing Falun Gong and urged them not to participate in the persecution.
A court staffer called Ms. Han’s family on November 17, 2024 and ordered her to report to the court on November 20 to wrap up her case. She went there as requested, only to be sentenced to one year and fined 2,000 yuan. As the Jilin City Detention Center refused to admit her due to her high blood pressure, the police took her home in the evening.
Ms. Han is now preparing to appeal the verdict.
Ms. Han used to suffer many ailments including rheumatoid disease, cystitis, and cholecystitis. She and her ailing husband struggled to care for their parents and two boys. In 1998, at the age of 48, she took up Falun Gong and soon regained good health. She was grateful for the benefits and remained firm in her faith after the persecution started a year later.
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