(Minghui.org) Despite the rising coronavirus cases in China, a 74-year-old woman was taken back into custody on February 3, 2021, and is now facing trial for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Liu Mingying, a Dazhou City, Sichuan Province resident, was first arrested with her husband Mr. Li Bending on February 29, 2020 while cooking lunch at home. The police claimed that the couple was recorded by surveillance cameras while they distributed Falun Gong informational materials in a residential area.
Due to the pandemic, the local detention center refused to accept them. The police released the couple and put Ms. Liu under house arrest.
On March 6, 2020, the couple was summoned to the local police station and released on the same day.
Ms. Liu was summoned by the police again on December 3, 2020 and released on bail in the evening. The police informed her on December 16 that they had submitted her case to the Kaijiang County Procuratorate.
Ms. Liu was subpoenaed by the prosecutor on December 23 and told that they had received her case, and that she could hire a lawyer to represent her. She then hired a local lawyer surnamed Sun to enter a not-guilty plea for her in the case.
Ms. Liu was called to the Procuratorate again on February 2, 2021 and the deputy chief prosecutor Zhu Liangguo introduced a new prosecutor surnamed Zhang to her.
While Ms. Liu was allowed to go home after the meeting with prosecutors, she was arrested and taken back into custody the next day. The police informed her family in the afternoon that her arrest had been approved. She is now awaiting trial in the detention center.
Prior to her latest persecution, Ms. Liu was arrested on July 22, 2008 at home with her husband. Her son, Mr. Li Rui, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, was also taken to the police station.
Ms. Liu and her husband were sentenced to six and five years respectively by the Kaijiang County Court on September 21, 2009. She was transferred to the Jianyang Women’s Prison and her husband to Deyang Prison on April 2, 2010.
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