(Minghui.org) A 78-year-old woman in Baiyin City, Gansu Province, was sentenced to 3.5 years by the Baiyin District Court on September 6, 2021. As she refused to renounce her faith in Falun Gong, the judge later added six months to her term.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Guo Lianqing was harassed by the police in March 2020 after she was reported for talking to students on the street about the persecution of Falun Gong. The police submitted her case to the Baiyin District Procuratorate. The prosecutor indicted her, accusing her of being a repeat offender, since she has been sentenced three times before for practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Guo was tried in the Baiyin District Court in May 2021. She pleaded not guilty in raising awareness about the persecution. The judge forced her daughter to sign statements renouncing Falun Gong on her behalf.
Ms. Guo began to practice Falun Gong in 1997, and she credits the practice for curing her heart condition and other ailments. After the persecution began in 1999, she was sentenced three times, in 2000, 2005, and 2014, respectively. The last time she was sentenced to 4.5 years in the Gansu Province Women’s Prison, she was already 71.
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