(Minghui.org) A Shanghai resident was recently sentenced to one and half years for her faith in Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Ms. Gu Jihong’s latest prison sentence was preceded by two previous prison terms and one forced labor term totaling seven years.
Ms. Gu was arrested on February 25, 2021, for talking to people about Falun Gong at a local supermarket, along with another practitioner, Ms. Yang Manye. The police submitted their case to the Jing’an District Procuratorate on May 19 and the prosecutor indicted them on June 18. Both women stood trial at the Jing’an District Court on September 24, 2021. Ms. Gu was sentenced to 1.5 years with 6,000 yuan and Ms. Yang to two years.
Ms. Gu took up Falun Gong in October 1997. She credits the practice for curing her severe heart condition, cholecystitis, and many other conditions.
With the onset of the persecution in 1999, Ms. Gu mailed letters to the general public to refute the propaganda spread by the communist regime to slander Falun Gong. She was arrested in June 2000 and sentenced to three years in Shanghai Women’s Prison, where she was subjected to intensive torture and brainwashing.
Ms. Gu was arrested again on June 14, 2005, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. She was given one year of forced labor. As she refused to renounce Falun Gong, her term was extended for a month. She was held in a 30-square-foot confinement cell, with no windows and the walls were covered with rubber.
Ms. Gu’s older sister, Ms. Gu Jianmin, was tortured to death at the Pudong New District Detention Center twelve days following her arrest on March 1, 2008. Since then, the authorities closely monitored Ms. Gu Jihong’s daily actvivities, including where she went and her phone calls.
In July 2008, Ms. Gu printed flyers that exposed her sister’s death and prepared to distribute them. After the authorities found out about her plan, the Putuo District 610 Office arrested her husband at work on July 26 and forced him to lead them home. A dozen officers broke in and arrested Ms. Gu. Her computer and printer were confiscated.
The Putuo District Court sentenced Ms. Gu to three years in Shanghai Women’s Prison on November 19, 2008. The prison guards forced her to do intensive unpaid labor and instigated the inmates to beat, verbally abuse, and humiliate her.
The police continued to harass Ms. Gu and monitor her after she was released in July 2011.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Gong Xulong (公绪龙) and Qian Lina (钱丽娜), judges of Jing’an District Court: +86-21-36120000Bao Mengna (包梦娜), court clerk: +86-21-22890837Zhu Hairong (朱海荣), prosecutor of Jing’an District Procuratorate: +86-21-52036098
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related reports:
Two Shanghai Residents Face Prosecution for Their Faith
Persecution of Ms. Gu Jihong and Ms. Lu Xiuli from the Putuo District of Shanghai
Elder Sister Tortured to Death and Younger Sister Facing Sentence
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Category: Accounts of Persecution
