79-year-old Tried for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Several officers showed up at a Tanjian resident's home on December 5, 20200, and took her to the Hexi District Court in Tianjin. Only then did Ms. Han Yuxia, 79, realize that she was going to be tried for practicing Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Judge Shi Guang questioned Ms. Han as to whether she still practiced Falun Gong. Ms. Han said yes and stated that she didn’t do anything wrong in practicing her faith or speaking up about it. Two officers from the Yuexiulu Police Station said to Ms. Han after the hearing that they would come back in two weeks to take her for a physical examination.

Ms. Han was arrested on October 29, 2019 for talking to people about Falun Gong and later released on bail. Just two months before the unexpected hearing, she was arrested again on October 15, 2022 when she happened to visit another practitioner, Ms. Sun Guixiang, whose home was being raided by the police. Ms. Han’s home was also raided.

Family Targeted for Their Shared Faith

Ms. Han, her husband and their daughter all took up Falun Gong in 1997. They credit the practice for improving their health and helping them to resolve their family conflicts, which had almost caused the couple to divorce.

Since the onset of the persecution, the family of three have been repeatedly targeted. The total time they have been incarcerated amounts to 31.5 years. The police, residential committee staff members and even guards from the prisons and labor camps have harassed the family relentlessly, which has caused the family tremendous mental distress.

Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Han was arrested five times. She served three and a half years in Banqiao Women’s Forced Labor Camp and another three and a half years in Tianjin Women’s Prison.

The guards once hung her up on a door frame for seven days. By the time she was let down, her feet had become severely swollen and she could not walk. Other forms of abuse she suffered included being forced to sit on a small stool for long hours without moving, and being forced to do intensive unpaid labor. Her use of the restroom was also restricted.

Ms. Han’s husband, Mr. Guo Deyou, has been arrested three times for his belief. He served three years in Banqiao Forced Labor Camp and five years in Gangbei Prison. He was also forced to sit on a small stool, do intensive labor, watch propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong, and write monthly “thought reports.”

Their daughter Ms. Guo Chengru, 58, has been arrested four times. She was given two forced labor camp terms for a total of three and a half years and three prison terms for a total of thirteen years. She endured relentless torture at the Tianjin Women’s Prison while serving her latest five-year term. She was emaciated and in a delirious state when she was released on August 24, 2022.

Perpetrators’ information:

Shi Guang (时光), presiding judge, Hexi District CourtWang Jian (王健), judge, Hexi District CourtLi Weidong (李卫东), chief, Yuexiulu Police Station: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related report:

Once Incarcerated for Seven Years, Tianjin Woman Arrested Again for Practicing Falun Gong