(Minghui.org) A Jiayu County resident was sentenced to 3 years for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. Ms. Chen Jinxiu’s family, however, didn’t learn of the verdict until two prison guards visited them on November 15, 2016 to collect information about her.
The 59-year-old woman was arrested on June 13, 2015 and tried on September 6, 2016. Her family has since heard nothing from the court, even after the prison guards’ visit. According to insiders, Ms. Chen has been transferred to Hubei Province Women’s Prison on November 26.
This is not the first time that Ms. Chen has been targeted for her faith. Her latest prison sentence was preceded by four arrests between 2001 and 2015.
She was first arrested in May 2001 and soon given 1.5 years of forced labor. Her family didn’t learn of her labor camp incarceration until two months later, when her son drowned. The police refused to allow her to attend her son’s funeral.
Her second arrest took place in 2009. She wasn’t released until 15 days later.
A group of agents showed up at her door on February 29, 2012, but she was not home.
Ms. Chen was arrested for a third time on March 27, 2013 while visiting her sister. The police kept her at the local brainwashing center for two months, during which time she was subjected to various forms of abuse.
She was often forced to stand for long periods of time and brutally beaten when she sat down to take a break. A male guard once grabbed her by the hair and punched her in the face. Her ears bled as a result. The next day, a female guard kicked Ms. Chen in the face with her high heels.
Ms. Chen went on a hunger strike, but was injected with unknown drugs. She felt chills as soon as the drug entered her bloodstream. The guards also force-fed her, leading her nose to bleed for several days.
Ms. Chen appeared disoriented and had trouble eating or sleeping well by the time she was released.
The police kept harassing her at home. She fled when they showed up at her door again on June 10, 2014, threatening to take her to the brainwashing center.
She later returned home, only to be arrested on March 21, 2015. Though she was released shortly afterwards, the police seized her again a few months later.
