(Minghui.org) A 64-year-old woman in Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province, was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, and sentenced to two years and three months in prison on April 25, 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Liu Yubo was wheeled into the makeshift courtroom in the detention center during her hearing on April 1. It’s not clear whether she remains at the detention center or has been transferred to prison at the time of this report.
Ms. Liu was arrested at home on December 28, 2023 by officers of the Xingcheng City Domestic Security Division, Jianchang Township Police Station and Ningyuan Street Police Station. Even though she was found to have extremely high blood pressure and a heart condition, the Xingcheng City Detention Center still admitted her.
Ms. Liu’s latest persecution stemmed from an arrest five years ago by officers of the Jianchang Township Police Station, when she talked to people about the persecution of Falun Gong. She was released on bail and the police recently reopened her case.
Ms. Liu’s case was first submitted to the Xingcheng City Procuratorate, which moved it to the Lianshan District Procuratorate in Huludao City on January 15, 2024. Huludao City oversees Xingcheng City. Prosecutors Zhang Xiaojin and Du Yang indicted her on February 5.
The Lianshan District Court scheduled a hearing of Ms. Liu’s case on March 15, 2024, but later postponed it to April 1 and conducted the hearing in the Huludao Detention Center, due to her persistent high blood pressure and heart condition. She was unable to walk.
Her daughter demanded the judge cancel the hearing, but he ignored her. Ms. Liu was taken into the makeshift courtroom in the detention center in a wheelchair during the hearing on April 1. Her daughter entered a not guilty plea for her. The presiding judge Wang Lianting sentenced her to two years and three months, and fined her 10,000 yuan on April 25. Judges Chen Xue and Zhao Jing, as well as clerk Nie Jiahui, also signed the verdict.