(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old Shanghai resident was sentenced to fifteen months on June 28, 2023 for advising people on how to stay safe during a local outbreak of COVID-19.
Ms. Zhao was arrested in September 2022, after a young man reported her to police for advising him to recite “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” as there have been numerous reports of people benefiting from reciting these phrases when in need of divine help.
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual discipline based on universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. Due to its popularity, it has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The police accused Ms. Zhao of promoting Falun Gong and kept her in detention until she developed some physical symptoms. They released her on one-year bail.
Ms. Zhao received a phone call from the Fengxian District Court on April 12, 2023, asking her to go there and pick up her indictment. Prosecutor Shen Wei of the Pudongxin District Procuratorate had indicted her but never notified her of it as required by law.
A court worker came to Ms. Zhao’s home on June 20 and said her court date was set for June 28. She said she would not attend the hearing.
The court sentenced Ms. Zhao in absentia on June 28 and ordered that she be taken back into custody. During the required physical examination, she was found to have a systolic blood pressure reading of 200 mmHg (a healthy range is no more than 120 mmHg) and a lump on her chest. The local detention center refused to admit her. The police released her but ordered her to report to the Chuansha Police Station whenever summoned.
This is not the first time that Ms. Zhao has been targeted for her faith in Falun Gong. She was arrested on July 31, 2012 while talking to people about Falun Gong. She was held at a labor camp for one year.
She was arrested at home on December 17, 2019 and taken to the Pudong Detention Center. A formal arrest warrant was issued against her on January 22, 2020. She appeared in the Fengxian District Court on August 25, 2020 and was sentenced to ten months with a 2,000-yuan fine at the end of the hearing.
Perpetrator’s contact information:
Fengxian District Court: +86-21-37190666
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Non-commercial reproduction must include attribution (e.g. "As reported by Minghui.org, ...") and a link to the original article. For commercial use, contact our editorial department for permission.
