(Minghui.org) Three residents of Tianjin were sentenced to prison on July 2, 2020, for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The three practitioners were arrested on August 21, 2019, for talking to people about Falun Gong. They were tried by the Hexi Court on March 27, 2020, before being convicted three months later.
Ms. Guo Defen, in her 80s, was sentenced to one year in prison. The other two practitioners, Ms. Han Cuiling and Ms. Deng Guiqiu, were given two and half years and two years and two months, respectively.
Prior to their latest sentences, all three practitioners have suffered long-term persecution for their faith. Below are the details of their ordeals.
Ms. Guo used to work in the food industry in Tianjin and was given a city-level model worker award. For upholding her faith, however, she was incarcerated for a total of seven years before her latest term.
She was first given three years in a labor camp in 2001 and arrested a few more times, on August 10, 2005, March 3, 2011, and May 31, 2011, respectively. The police ransacked her home after her March 2011 arrest and confiscated her Falun Gong books, photo of Falun Gong’s founder, and other valuables.
Ms. Guo was arrested again on July 19, 2013, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was in critical condition. She was sentenced to four years in December 2013.
Because she refused to give up Falun Gong at Tianjin Women’s Prison, the guards forced her to stand for long hours and administered two big bottles of unknown liquid through an IV drip every day. The guards also regularly forced her to take high blood pressure pills before she was released, even though she didn’t have the condition.
During her three-plus years in the prison, the authorities took blood samples from her every one or two months. This occurred over twenty times in total, and each time they took one or two tubes. She always felt very weak afterwards, and it became very difficult for the nurse to draw her blood later on.
For Ms. Han Cuiling, this is the fourth time she has been sentenced for her faith. She previously served a total of 13 years in prison.
Ms. Han was arrested on June 11, 2000, for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was detained at the Hexi Detention Center for 15 days.
She was arrested again on January 30, 2001, for distributing Falun Gong flyers and sentenced to four years in Tianjin Women’s Prison.
Only months after she was released, she was arrested again on October 30, 2005 for passing out flyers and sentenced to another four years.
About one year after she was released from her second term, she was arrested on October 20, 2010, and held at the Banqiao Women’s Forced Labor Camp for 20 days.
She was arrested again on July 17, 2013, and had her home ransacked after the police found she was involved in rescuing a 76-year-old practitioner, Ms. Zhu Guixiang. Ms. Han was secretly sentenced to five years in February 2014.
Ms. Deng Guiqiu was arrested at home in July 2002. Her Falun Gong books and computer were confiscated. The police smeared the reputation of her husband, resulting in his being fired by his workplace. Their daughter, who was in third grade, was left at home by herself for an unknown period of time.
Ms. Deng was held at the Banqiao Women's Labor Camp for one year and forced to do hard labor. Her health deteriorated as a result.
Ms. Deng was arrested again on September 19, 2010, and sentenced to three years on March 17, 2011, by the Hexi District Court.
Ms. Deng Guiqiu from Tianjin Sentenced to Three Years in Prison