(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Cuihong, a Falun Gong practitioner in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, was recently sentenced to a 16-month prison term for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual practice based on meditation and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The Chinese Communist Party has been persecuting the practice since July 1999.
Ms. Li and her husband, Mr. Tang Yuwei, were arrested at their family-owned machine factory on August 23, 2018, under orders from the local 610 Office, an extra-legal agency tasked with eradicating Falun Gong and given the power to override the judicial system.
More than ten officers from Jiangjun Police Station proceeded to ransack the couple's home before taking them to the police station.
The sudden arrest caused Mr. Tang, who does not practice Falun Gong and who had recently had a brain stem surgery, to have a seizure relapse. As soon as his condition stabilized, he was taken to the Nangou Detention Center. He wasn't released until his condition had worsened ten days later, and his family had posted a bail bond of 5,000 yuan. He was then hospitalized at the Fushun Petroleum Hospital for treatment.
Ms. Li appeared in Shuncheng Court twice, on November 27 and December 6. Judge Ji Jing announced on December 17 that Ms. Li had been sentenced to a one-year-and-four-month term.
This is not the first time that Ms. Li has been targeted for her belief. In 2000, she was detained for over ten days and extorted of 16,500 yuan. Her first husband was forced to divorce her, and she had to do odd jobs to support herself. After getting remarried in 2010, Ms. Li began working in her father-in-law's machine factory.
She was arrested again for her faith on February 21, 2016 and detained for 15 days. She was not released until her mother-in-law paid 8,000 yuan to police.
Ms. Li's latest arrest has devastated her in-laws, who struggled to take care of her re-hospitalized husband, and her parents, who had to harvest crops without her help.
Hou Yong, director of Shuncheng Court: +86-24-57651318, +86-15566290007Ji Jing, judge for the case of Ms. Li Cuihong: +86-18941369030
Family Plight: Two Men Arrested with Their Wives Who Practice Falun Gong