(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old Dalian woman was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan for her faith in Falun Gong by Kaifa District Court on September 19, 2018.
Ms. Wang Riqing was arrested on April 14, 2018, after she was reported to the police for distributing information about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline persecuted by the communist regime since 1999.
The police confiscated the materials found in her purse and later ransacked her home. They detained her at Dalian City Detention Center on the evening of her arrest and didn't inform her family members of her whereabouts. It took them nearly two months to find her at the detention center.
Ms. Wang was tried by Kaifa District Court on July 31, 2018. She defended herself and recounted how her health had improved and her temper changed for the better after she picked up Falun Gong. Her lawyer also argued the lack of legal basis for the persecution of her faith.
Ms. Wang is still detained at Dalian Detention Center following her verdict.
In the past decade, she has been arrested and had her home ransacked several times for telling people about her faith.
On June 29, 2011, during a mass arrest of more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners, the police ransacked her home, and confiscated 50,000 yuan in cash and a 100,000 yuan bank deposit without her presence.
