(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old Weifang City, Shandong Province, resident is appealing a three-year prison sentence for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Xiuzhen was arrested by officers of the Heng’an Police Station on September 7, 2023, for talking to people about Falun Gong at a community fair. Although the police released her on the same day, they staked outside of her home and monitored her daily activities for over a month and arrested her again on November 21. Her home was also ransacked.
The police soon submitted Ms. Li’s case to the Fangzi District Procuratorate, which approved her arrest and indicted her. The Fangzi District Court held a hearing of her case at an unknown date without informing her family. Ms. Li received her verdict in early January 2024. She has appealed with the Weifang City Intermediate Court.
Previous Arrests
This isn’t the first time that Ms. Li has been targeted for her faith.
She was arrested on October 16, 2009 while cleaning her home. Officers of the Fangzi District Domestic Security Office and Laofangzi District Police Station confiscated her Falun Gong books and other personal items. She was released the next day, after being forced to pay the police 5,000 yuan.
Ms. Li was arrested again on April 13, 2014, along with two other practitioners, while talking to people about Falun Gong at a community fair.
Staff members of the Wumalu Residential Committee harassed Ms. Li on May 27, 2019.
Ms. Li was arrested one more time on August 23, 2019 by officers of Heng’an Police Station, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was detained at the Shuiku Road Detention Center for an unknown amount of time.
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