(Minghui.org) A Chengde City, Hebei Province resident, whose son lives in Japan, was recently sentenced to 1.5 years for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
A group of officers broke into Ms. Zhao Huairong’s home on July 6, 2019 and ransacked her residence. The police took all of her IDs and emptied her safe. While Ms. Zhao escaped arrest at the time, she was seized by the police when she returned home on November 26 and was sent to the Chengde City Detention Center.
She was tried by the Chengde County Court on June 16, 2020 through a video conference. The judge later sentenced her to 1.5 years with a 20,000 yuan fine. She was sent to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison on September 17, 2020.
Ms. Zhao’s son, Mr. Yang Jian, who now resides in Kansai, Japan, spoke at the rally in front of the Chinese Consulate in Osaka on July 20, 2020, calling for the immediate release of his mother.
Mr. Yang said his mother had regained her health and improved relationships with her family after she started practicing Falun Gong in 1998, but she had been subjected to years of persecution for refusing to give up her belief.
Ms. Zhao was arrested in February 2003 and held in a brainwashing center for over 50 days.
She was arrested again and had her home ransacked on December 9, 2010. She was first held at the Zunhua City Detention Center and then transferred to a brainwashing center.
Her next arrest was on July 2, 2015, after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was sent to the Chengde City Brainwashing Center on the same day.
Japanese Practitioners Mark 21 Years of Peaceful Resistance to the CCP’s Persecution