(Minghui.org) The Minghui website confirmed in early April 2024 that an 80-year-old woman in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province had been sentenced to one year and three months for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Wang Guixia’s sentencing stemmed from her initial arrest on the afternoon of September 25, 2022, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at the local Beihu Park. The Shiqiaozi Police Station officers also raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books. They later released her on bail.
On December 20, 2022, Ms. Wang submitted a request to the Shiqiaozi Police Station and its supervising agency, the Linghe District Police Station, asking to have her bail lifted, case dismissed, and confiscated items returned. She received no response and thus filed an open information disclosure request with the Linghe District Police Station, which replied that her case did not qualify for open information disclosure.
One day in early July 2023, two people from the Linghai City Procuratorate showed up at Ms. Wang’s home and said they had received her case. She was not in, and they had her family sign her case file on her behalf. Linghai is under the administration of Jinzhou City. The Linghai City Procuratorate and Linghai City Court have been designated to handle Falun Gong cases in the greater Jinzhou area.
A prosecutor called Ms. Wang’s family on July 11, 2023, and asked them to tell her to report to the procuratorate to be deposed. Her family said she would not go because she did not break any law in practicing her faith.
Ms. Wang was secretly arrested on February 1, 2024. The procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant against her on February 5, 2024. By the time her family was informed of her arrest, she had already been taken to the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center. The police submitted her case to the procuratorate on February 19, and she was indicted the next day.
The Linghai City Court held a hearing of Ms. Wang’s case at the detention center on March 4, 2024. She was sentenced weeks later.
This is not the first time that Ms. Wang has been targeted for practicing Falun Gong, which she credits for restoring her health and enabling her to live a fulfilling life.
Sentenced to 4 Years in 2002
Ms. Wang was previously arrested on August 2, 2002, while distributing Falun Gong informational materials in Huludao City, Liaoning Province. The Yangjiazhangzi Coalmine Bureau Police Station took her to the Huludao City Detention Center. She was later sentenced to four years by the Lianshan District Court in Huludao City and admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on January 11, 2003.
The prison guards subjected Ms. Wang to various forms of torture because she refused to renounce Falun Gong. They once stripped her of her winter coat and forced her to stand barefoot on a cold concrete floor for four straight hours. Another time they barred her from taking showers for two months in a row. There were also 23 straight days when they did not allow her to brush her teeth or change her clothes. On a separate occasion, they tied her to a bed in a spread-eagle position with her mouth taped for ten days.
Ms. Wang was also forced to do hard labor without pay. After a long day’s work, she was made to squat until midnight.
The guards often whipped Ms. Wang with slippers, kicked her on her private part and breasts with leather shoes, pricked her in the chest with safety pins, and hit her hands with brooms. On a few occasions, they dunked her head in a basin filled with water, wrapped tape around her neck, sat on her to punch her temples, yanked out her hair, and stripped her to her underwear. When she went on a hunger strike in protest, they force-fed her and kept her restrained in a bed without allowing her to use the restroom.
Ms. Wang was released on August 1, 2006.
Losing 37 Pounds After 16 Days of Detention in 2013
Li Meishan from the Jinzhou City Police Department and deputy chief Du from the Shiyou Police Station led three agents to raid Ms. Wang’s home on July 19, 2012. She was not in and was forced to live away for more than one year to avoid being arrested.
Officers Li and Bai Ning arrested Ms. Wang again on October 18, 2013, while she was distributing Falun Gong informational materials. During the interrogation, officer Shan Xuezhi slapped her in the face four times.
Ms. Wang was taken to the Jinzhou City Detention Center the next day. The guards cuffed her hands to the window sill when she refused to wear the inmates’ uniform. They took her to a clinic to have her blood drawn against her will on October 21, 2013. On the way back to the detention center, deputy director Wu Yan slapped her in the face four times.
Wu put Ms. Wang in solitary confinement as soon as they returned to the detention center. For three straight days, Ms. Wang was restrained to a bed in a spread-eagle position with her limbs cuffed. She felt dizzy and vomited. Her lips cracked and her abdomen hurt. Her legs became stiff and numb. Her body twitched uncontrollably from time to time. After she was let off the bed, she was made to stay in solitary confinement for five more days.
After she was brought back to a regular cell, guard Shi Hong ordered her to put on the inmates’ uniform. She refused and Shi instructed inmates Wang Jiaying and Hu Qiuxia to tape her arms and then forced the uniform on her. She struggled to breathe.
For the remainder of her detention, Ms. Wang was kept in solitary confinement during the day and returned to her cell at night.
Guard Shi gathered everyone in the courtyard one day and said all detainees must do hard labor, including the elderly. Ms. Wang protested that she was almost 70, long past China’s retirement age of 55 for women. Shi ordered her to shut up and slapped her in the face four times and kicked her in the ankles.
Ms. Wang was released on November 2, 2013. Her family had to pay 50,000 yuan before being allowed to pick her up from the detention center. By then, she had lost 37 pounds and could no longer walk. Her son had to carry her on his back.
Related Report:
Once Jailed for 4 Years, 80-Year-Old Liaoning Woman Faces Indictment for Her Faith in Falun Gong
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