(Minghui.org) It was not until Ms. Yue Lanxiang's family was informed by the detention center to visit her at the hospital on April 15, 2017, that they found out that Ms. Yue had been secretly sentenced to four years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan a few months ago.
Ms. Yue, from Nanyang City, Henan Province, was arrested on September 19, 2016 when she was talking to the people on the street about the persecution of Falun Gong. She happened to talk to Gao Minxuan, a staff member from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and was then reported to the police and arrested. She was detained at Nanyang City Detention Center.
When guards at the detention center found that she was doing the Falun Gong exercises, they forced her to wear shackles for six days. Her body was swollen, her face was pale and her blood pressure was very low.
She was sent to the hospital for medical treatment, and that was the first time that her family was allowed to visit her – about seven months after her arrest.
Despite her weak physical condition, the guards still handcuffed her and forced her to wear shackles in the hospital. She was taken to the hospital in the morning and sent back to the detention center in the evening. A few armed guards stood by the door of her hospital room, and didn't allow anyone to visit her except for her family.
According to Ms. Yue, she was sentenced by Wancheng District Court under the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used by the Communist regime to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Evidence used by the prosecutor included a copy of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and other Falun Gong related materials confiscated from her.
Ms. Yue's family filed an appeal of her sentence on April 16, 2017.
