(Minghui.org) A 44-year-year-old Fushun City, Liaoning Province, resident, stood trial on June 21, 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.
Ms. Tian Lili’s trial stemmed from her arrest on the morning of January 26, 2024. She was changing into her work uniform at a local supermarket when a group of officers from the Xinfu District Police Department broke in. She fainted during an involuntary blood draw but was still taken to the Fushun City Detention Center (also known as the Nangou Detention Center).
The police said they targeted Ms. Tian because she was a “fugitive.” She had previously been arrested on April 7, 2022 for talking to people about Falun Gong, but was soon released unconditionally, much less be put on the “wanted list.” The police remained silent when her family questioned how could she suddenly become a “fugitive.”
The Dongzhou District Procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant of Ms. Tian about two months later. The Dongzhou District Court held a hearing of her case at the detention center on June 21, 2024.
Prosecutor Dai Guoqiang read aloud the fabricated evidence against Ms. Tian that was submitted by the Fumin Police Station and the Qianjin Police Station. Judge Zhang Yang asked if Ms. Tian admitted to her “guilt.” She replied that she broke no law in exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief. Her lawyer also pointed out that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and demanded her acquittal.
Ms. Tian is now awaiting a verdict. Prior to her latest ordeal, she was previously sentenced to one and a half years in 2018, and her husband was forced to divorce her. Her mother died in grief and her father suffered a heart attack following her brief detention in April 2022.
Previous 1.5-Year Sentence Following Arrest in 2018
Ms. Tian was arrested on August 23, 2018, and later sentenced to 1.5 years. Her then-husband, Mr. Lu Guofeng, who did not practice Falun Gong, was also arrested and detained for a month.
The police continued to harass Ms. Tian after she was released. Her parents-in-law fell ill due to the harassment and their daughter’s child was also harassed at school. To protect his family from being implicated, Mr. Lu was forced to divorce Ms. Tian.
The mental pressure from the persecution took a toll on the health of Ms. Tian’s mother, Ms. Liu Xiuqin. She passed away on January 23, 2022, at the age of 68. After she died, Ms. Tian’s father, who has been traumatized by her repeated arrests and home raids over the years and developed a severe heart condition, kept a distance from Ms. Tian. When Ms. Tian was arrested again on April 7, 2022, for talking to people about Falun Gong, the police ransacked her father’s home and he suffered a heart attack.
Ms. Tian was harassed again in October 2022, prior to the CCP’s 20th Party Congress. Even her ex-husband and his parents were harassed by the authorites.
Related Reports:
A Liaoning Family's Ordeal for Refusing to Renounce Falun Gong
Family Plight: Two Men Arrested with Their Wives Who Practice Falun Gong
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