(Minghui.org) A judge in Qingyang City sentenced a local woman to ten years in prison for practicing Falun Dafa, a mind body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. She was incarcerated in Gansu Women’s Prison on July 24, 2017. No one in her family has been allowed to visit her because she refuses to renounce her faith.
The last time her family traveled all the way to Lanzhou City to see her was on April 25, 2018. The guard turned them away, saying, “She hasn’t changed her mind.” Her family has no idea how she is or if she is even still alive. They have hired a lawyer and filed a motion to reconsider her case.
Ms. Duan Xiaoyan, 48, is from Qingyang City. Because she practices Falun Dafa, she has been detained three times, put in a forced labor camp, and served seven years in prison. During her imprisonment, she was savagely force fed and had to wear handcuffs and shackles. The guards shocked her with electric batons, dragged her along rough ground, and tied her to a death bed.
Ms. Duan's most recent arrest took place on July 4, 2015, while she was in a pastry shop in Qingcheng County. She refused to answer questions or to sign any documents because she knows that she has committed no crime.
Her first hearing was held on August 16, 2016, in the Qingcheng County Court. She pleaded not guilty. Her second hearing was on November 22. On January 2017 she was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Ms. Duan filed an appeal, and her case was heard in the Qingyang Intermediate Court on June 12, 2017. Twelve days later the Intermediate Court upheld the original sentence and Ms. Duan was taken to Gansu Women’s Prison.
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