(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old woman in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province was sentenced to four years for not renouncing her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Ren Rujie was arrested during a police roundup of more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners from Harbin and Daqing City on November 9, 2018.
It was reported that the police had monitored Ms. Ren for some time before making the arrest.
The officers confiscated her Falun Gong books, computer, printer, and over 10,000 yuan in cash.
Although Ms. Ren escaped from the police station on the early morning of November 10, she was arrested again on November 23 in another city. The police also installed surveillance cameras outside of her, her daughter and sister's homes, in order to arrest her.
Ms. Ren's arrest was approved on December 24, 2018 and her case was submitted to Harbin Railroad Transportation Procuratorate on March 12, 2019.
The prosecutor indicted her on April 16, 2019 and submitted her case to Harbin Railroad Transportation Court.
During her court appearance on May 17, both the judge and prosecutor attempted to force her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She refused to comply.
Ms. Ren was sentenced to four years in prison in early June. She appealed the verdict, but was rejected by the Railroad Intermediate Court.
She was transferred from Harbin No.2 Detention Center to Heilongjiang Women's Prison in mid-July.
She developed some physical condition during detention, and the authorities have declined to grant her parole or allow her family to visit her, with the excuse that she refuses to renounce her faith.
Ms. Ren began to practice Falun Gong in 2000 after she contracted sepsis. She soon recovered and credits the practice for giving her a new life.
Related report:
119 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Heilongjiang Province Cities in One Day
