(Minghui.org) A Shenyang City, Liaoning Province resident was sentenced to a three year and four month prison term for raising awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999.
Ms. Chen Lihong, 64, was arrested on January 6, 2020, after being reported by two soldiers for giving them copies of an open letter written by a group of Falun Gong practitioners. The open letter explained the illegality of the persecution, and urged people to quit the CCP. The police brought Ms. Chen back home at around 9:00 p.m. and attempted to ransack her home, but were stopped by her husband.
Ms. Chen was then sent to Shenyang City No. 1 Detention Center. The Tiexi District Procuratorate approved her arrest on January 20 and indicted her in early June. On August 17, her family was informed that she was sentenced to three years and four months.
Ms. Chen’s husband’s life fell apart after her arrest. Still struggling to recover from a stroke, he had trouble getting around or talking clearly. Unable to take care of himself, he had to hire people to do grocery shopping and cook for him. After the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, his life became even more difficult.
Life Renewed by Practicing Falun Gong
When Ms. Chen was in her youth, she was sent to the countryside to receive rural education, as part of the “Down to the Countryside Movement” in the Cultural Revolution. Often known as the “lost generation,” many in Ms. Chen's generation lost the opportunities to attend college.
Due to the poor living condition in the countryside, Ms. Chen developed severe rheumatism in her joints. When the weather was humid, she had pain in her bones all over her body and couldn’t even lift a kettle of water. She also had severe nephritis, gastritis, and migraines.
At the recommendation of a friend, she took up Falun Gong in the spring of 2004. Within only a short month, all of her symptoms disappeared and she felt that her life had been renewed.
Her husband suffered a stroke in the winter of 2009. She stayed in the hospital and took care of him day and night. One month later, her mother-in-law was diagnosed with late-stage cancer.
After her husband was discharged from the hospital, she got up early and prepared meals for him. Then she took a two-hour bus trip to go to the hospital to take care of her mother-in-law. She did that every day for four months, until her mother-in-law passed away. Many of the doctors and nurses said she was the best daughter-in-law.
