(Minghui.org) Two residents of Donggang City, Liaoning Province, were talking to people about Falun Gong on March 15, 2024, when they were arrested by agents from the Development Zone Police Station.
The police raided the homes of Ms. Wang Chunhua and Ms. Wang Guifang (no relation) and took them to the Dandong City Lockup that night. Dandong City oversees Donggang City.
This is not the first time that both women have been targeted for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Ms. Wang Chunhua was previously sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, and Ms. Wang Guifang to 4 years.
Ms. Wang Chunhua credits Falun Gong for curing her frozen shoulder, lower back and leg pain, cervical pain, rhinitis, and gynecological diseases. She also learned to be more considerate, and no longer fought with her husband. Her simple pursuit of a healthy and happy life landed her in custody after the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999.
Ms. Wang and 13 other practitioners were arrested on December 22, 2009, by the Donggang City Police Department. She was sentenced to 7.5 years after five hearings, and admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on October 19, 2010. Her family was not allowed to visit her there.
The prison guards ordered Ms. Wang to do hard labor without pay from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, with two inmates monitoring her around the clock. They even followed her to the restroom.
Ms. Wang was unable to finish her quota one spring day in 2011 and was verbally abused by the two inmates who were monitoring her. She refused to do hard labor in protest. Guard Ren Jing verbally abused her for half an hour before holding her in a locker room for two weeks.
Ms. Wang was released in June 2017.
Ms. Wang Guifang took up Falun Gong in 2003 and soon regained her health. She was arrested at 8:30 a.m. on November 16, 2016, as soon as she opened the door to go shopping. Xue Hailin from the Hezuo District Police Department led multiple officers to raid her home. They confiscated more than ten Falun Gong books, a printer, a laptop computer, and close to 10,000 yuan in cash. About 7,000-yuan of the banknotes had Falun Gong messages printed on them, used to raise awareness of the persecution given that all legal channels to appeal have been blocked to practitioners in China.
The police submitted Ms. Wang’s case to the Zhenxing District Procuratorate on December 24, 2016. The Zhenxing District Court held a hearing on December 8, 2017 without notifying her family. After yet another secret hearing (date unknown), the court sentenced her to a four-year prison term.
Ms. Wang was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on June 19, 2018 and released on November 15, 2020.
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