(Minghui.org) A 66-year-old woman in Wuhan City was sentenced to eight years in prison for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999.
Ms. Wang Qihua was home on the morning of July 13, 2017, when a local official named He Shengya and five officers broke in. They ransacked her home, with one of them videotaping the proceedings. They confiscated several old cell phones and a piece of embroidery art hanging on the wall. They left without taking her away.
About an hour later, a new group of officers descended on Ms. Wang's home. This time they arrested her, claiming that they found audio recordings of Falun Gong information on her old cell phones.
Ms. Wang's husband was never told where she was being taken. He checked everywhere until, five days later, he ran into an insider who told him that his wife had been taken to Yusunshan Brainwashing Center in the Caidian District.
He went to the brainwashing center and learned that his wife was indeed held there. He wasn't allowed to see her. He returned the next day with his older son, but they were still not allowed to visit her. The brainwashing center moved her to Wuhan City First Women's Detention Center a few days later.
The detention center also didn't allow Ms. Wang's family to see her. They hired a lawyer, who was granted a meeting with her. The lawyer learned that Ms. Wang had been intimidated and abused in the brainwashing center. She had been forced to stand for several straight days and deprived of sleep. They promised to release her if she signed a statement to denounce Falun Gong. She fell victim to their deceit and wrote her name on the statement. Instead of being released, she was transferred to the detention center.
Ms. Wang appeared in the Xinzhou District Court on May 2, 2018, and judge Zhou Jie sentenced her to eight years. She is appealing her case.
Ms. Wang is not the only person in her family that has been targeted for her faith. Her younger son, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, was given three years of forced labor for his faith. After his term expired in 2003, he was immediately moved to Caizheng Brainwashing Center.
Ms. Wang, her husband, and her sister-in-law went to see her son but were not allowed to. She tried to reason with the staff, but they pushed her so hard that her head hit a concrete utility pole and she fell. Blood ran down her head, and one of her ribs was broken.
The brainwashing center staff didn't even bother to help her get up. They went inside and shut the gate. Her husband and sister-in-law rushed her to the hospital. The local 610 Office, an extra-legal agency tasked with carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong, later released her son for fear of being held responsible for her injuries.
Ms. Wang was on her way to visit a relative in August 2004 when she was stopped by a street committee staff member. That person searched her bag and found some Falun Gong informational materials. He took her to Wuhan City First Women's Detention Center. She went on a hunger strike in protest and was released nine days later.
