(Minghui.org) A 71-year-old woman in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, is serving a 4.5-year term in Liaoning Province Women’s Prison for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhou Yuzhen was arrested on April 30, 2024, and sentenced to four and a half years in September 2024. It is not known exactly when she was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Prior to this latest sentence, Ms. Zhou was arrested multiple times for upholding her faith. She was detained at the Masanjia Labor Camp from May 2004 to January 2006 and served two four-year prison terms (July 2013 to July 2017 and April 2019 to April 2023). She endured horrific torture in each location. See the related reports for details of her past persecution.
While Ms. Zhou was serving her first prison sentence, the social security bureau suspended her pension in November 2016. After she was released in July 2017, she worked as an aide to make a living. To this day, her pension has not been reinstated.
Ms. Zhou got into an altercation with someone at a market in 2001. The other person scratched her face and she bit the person’s hand. Ms. Zhou was held in the Jinzhou City Detention Center for refusing to pay her fine, but the experience started a new chapter in her life.
She had many health problems, including tendonitis, tenosynovitis, and arthritis. She took herbal medicine for months and used all kinds of herbal medicinal patches. She was depressed and did not understand the purpose of life.
Ms. Zhou met five Falun Gong practitioners in the detention center. She could feel their peaceful mindsets from their behavior. They did not complain or hate anyone and were compassionate and kindhearted in the face of the abuse and violence directed at them. Ms. Zhou was deeply moved. Three days later, she told the practitioners that the first thing she planned to do after she got out was to look for a copy of Falun Gong’s main book, Zhuan Falun. While in the detention center, she started to learn the exercises and many other things from the practitioners.
Thirteen days later, assisted by her sister and brother-in-law, Ms. Zhou paid the fine to the person she hurt and was released. She wasted no time looking for a practitioner in her area. On October 18, 2001, she found a practitioner and got a copy of Zhuan Falun, and she said it was the most unforgettable day of her life.
From then on, Ms. Zhou conducted herself according to the principles outlined in Zhuan Falun. When things did not go smoothly, she did not blame anyone. She also worked hard to change her longstanding notions and eliminate her negative mentality, and strove to be a good person. Her health improved greatly after she started practicing.
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