(Minghui.org) After Ms. Wu Shuling was arrested in August 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, her family was kept in the dark about her situation. It wasn’t until late March 2024 that they learned about her secret one-year sentence, after receiving a letter from her.

Ms. Wu, a Tangshan City, Hebei Province resident in her 50s, was arrested on August 29, 2023 by officers from the Wangnianzhuang Township Police Station, for talking to people about Falun Gong. Her home was also ransacked.

Two police officers informed Ms. Wu’s family on September 12, 2023 that her arrest had been approved. Her family refused to sign the relevant paperwork.

Ms. Wu has since been held in room 803 at the Tangshan City First Detention Center. Her family wasn’t given any update about her case status. When they received her letter dated March 26, 2024, they read that she had been tried on March 22, 2024 and sentenced to one year in prison, with a 5,000-yuan fine. She was represented by a court-appointed lawyer, who entered a not guilty plea for her.

Ms. Wu used to work in the logistics department at the Tangshan City No. 46 Middle School. She took up Falun Gong in 1996 and soon recovered from her liver and heart conditions, as well as many other health issues.

Before her latest sentencing, she had previously been arrested two other times. The first arrest was on August 2, 2017 after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was detained for 15 days at a detention center in Beijidian Township. She was arrested again on February 2, 2023, after being followed and video recorded by three plainclothes officers while she was talking to people about Falun Gong. Her home was raided and she was detained for another 15 days.