(Minghui.org) A 77-year-old woman in Chongqing has faced constant harassment in the past six months for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999. The police also threatened to sentence her to prison if she didn’t renounce Falun Gong.

The harassment of Ms. Zhu Jingrong stemmed from her arrest in June 2023. Because of distributing informational materials about Falun Gong on June 5, 2023, she was reported to the police and arrested two days later by six officers from the Beibei District Police Department and two staff members from the Mingju Neighborhood. The police ransacked her home without showing their IDs and confiscated her Falun Gong books, Falun Gong founder’s portrait, and some banknotes printed with information about Falun Gong (as a way to raise awareness about the persecution given the strict censorship in China).

Ms. Zhu was taken to the Caijia Police Station for interrogation. She tried to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to the police, such as how she became a better person and saw her heart and stomach condition and rheumatoid arthritis disappear after she took up the practice in December 1998. She urged the police not to participate in the persecution and refused to sign the interrogation records.

Later in the day, the police took Ms. Zhu to the Beibei Chinese Medicine Hospital for a physical examination. She was found to have dangerously high blood pressure and taken back to the police station. The police kept her handcuffed overnight and didn’t give her any food.

When the police took Ms. Zhu to the local detention center the next day, she was denied admission due to her high blood pressure. She was released on bail on June 8.

The police took Ms. Zhu back to the Caijia Police Station on July 18 and questioned her about where she got the Falun Gong materials and who printed the messages on the banknotes. She refused to answer the questions. The police eventually forced her to sign an acknowledgment of the items confiscated from her before allowing her to go home.

A police officer called Ms. Zhu’s husband on November 24, asking him whether she was home. She got on the phone and asked the police if they had any questions for her. The officer said they needed her to go to the police station to sign a document, which would then be forwarded to the local court. Ms. Zhu said she had to stay home to take care of her ailing husband and wouldn’t go.

The police showed up at Ms. Zhu’s home the next day, still asking her to sign the document (it’s not clear what exactly the document was). When she refused to sign it, the police said to her, “It doesn’t make a difference whether you sign it or not. The court would still sentence you without your signature. We won’t be so nice to you the next time we come.” Then the police left.