(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old resident of Qingdao City, Shandong Province was sentenced to one and a half years on March 22, 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Gao Xiuhua’s sentencing stemmed from her arrest in late September 2023, after she was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. The arresting officers from the Lingshanwei Police Station in Huangdao District raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and 500 one-yuan banknotes printed with Falun Gong messages (as a way to raise awareness of the persecution).

While Ms. Gao was released on bail that night, she was visited by three officers from the Lingshanwei Police Station at 8 p.m. on March 14, 2024. They said they needed to fill out some paperwork at the police station. She went with them, only to be arrested on the spot. 

The police said Ms. Gao was facing prosecution by the Huangdao District Court and took her to the Qingdao City Detention Center (located in Pudong Town, Jimo District) the next morning. She failed the required physical examination and was taken back to the police station in the afternoon. The police took her to the Haici Hospital for another physical examination on the morning of March 17 before taking her back to the police station. 

Ms. Gao was taken to the same hospital the next morning and then back to the police station hours later. She fainted at the police station that night and was rushed to the Huangdao Development Zone Hospital. She was taken back to the police station at 11 o’clock that night.

The multiple physical examinations found that Ms. Gao had tuberculosis (with only one lung still functioning), heart disease, high blood pressure and other conditions.

Despite her poor health, the police managed to get Ms. Gao admitted to the Qingdao City Detention Center on the morning of March 19.

Judge Xue (+86-185-6390-1812) of the Huangdao District Court held a hearing on Ms. Gao's case at the detention center on March 22. Her lawyer defended her innocence but Xue sentenced her to one and a half years.