(Minghui.org) Ms. Zuo Xiuyun, 64, from Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, was recently sentenced to three years and five months because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Zuo, a former kindergarten teacher, was arrested on May 21, 2024, after being spotted placing a letter thought to contain information about Falun Gong in a mail collection box.
Captain Liu Weiping of the Jin’an District Police Department and several officers raided Ms. Zuo’s residence which she shared with her brother, Mr. Zuo Fusheng. They confiscated a computer, a printer, some blank envelopes, and Falun Gong books.
One officer beat Ms. Zuo in front of a crowd. During her physical exam before she was admitted to the Fuzhou City Second Detention Center, she was found to have blood in her urine and her abdomen was bruised.
The police soon submitted Ms. Zuo’s case to the Minqing County Procuratorate, which then indicted her. The Minqing County Court denied her lawyer’s request to release her to take care of her brother, who is legally blind.
After Ms. Zuo’s case was heard on December 13, 2024, the court returned it twice to the police for additional evidence and postponed the sentencing hearing three times, before eventually convicting her. She is still held at the Fuzhou City Second Detention Center now and is preparing to appeal the sentence.
This is the fifth time Ms. Zuo has been sentenced for practicing Falun Gong. She previously served three years between October 12, 2000 and October 12, 2003, six years between June 3, 2004 and June 3, 2010, three and a half years between December 16, 2011 and June 16, 2015, and five years between December 28, 2015 and December 28, 2020. Her husband divorced her while she was serving her first prison sentence.
Mr. Zuo, a veteran and also a Falun Gong practitioner, served a forced labor term of one and half years following his arrest in late 1999. His wife was forced to divorce him and was given full custody of their daughter. He has not seen his daughter since then.
Mr. Zuo was arrested again on November 1, 2002 and given another forced labor term of two years and two months. After yet another arrest on January 19, 2011, he was sentenced to six years in prison. He was savagely beaten and was once hung up for six straight hours. One of his eyes became blind as a result of torture. After he was released in January 2017, he gradually went blind in the other eye. Despite his condition, the police installed five surveillance cameras outside his home to monitor him. One camera faced his balcony, a second faced his front door, a third one monitored the hallway leading to the elevators, and the remaining two cameras were located near the staircases on either side of his apartment building.
The siblings’ mother passed away on April 25, 2015, while both of them were in prison. Ms. Zuo moved in with Mr. Zuo after she completed her fourth prison term in late 2020 to take care of him. Only six months later, she was arrested again on June 19, 2021 and detained for an unknown amount of time before her latest arrest on May 21, 2024.
Related Reports:
Fujian Man Monitored Around the Clock for His Faith
Having Served Four Prison Terms for a Total of 17.5 Years, Fujian Woman Arrested Again for Her Faith
Practitioner Loses Sight in Left Eye Due to Beatings in Prison
Imprisoned Man On Hunger Strike to Protest Abuse, Life in Danger
Fujian Man Taken Away Prior to Release from Prison—Whereabouts Unknown
Fujian Prison Obstructs Military Veteran from Seeking Pardon, Citing His Practice of Falun Gong
Fujian Province Men’s Prison Again Holding Brainwashing Classes to Persecute Practitioners
Mr. Zuo Fusheng and His Sister, Ms. Zuo Xiuyun, Imprisoned
Mr. Zuo Fusheng Placed on Trial, Fuzhou Court Officials Violate the Law
Kindergarten Teacher Describes Her Ordeals in Fujian Women's Prison
Fujian Public Security Departments Hinder Attorney Trying to Represent Mr. Zuo Fusheng
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