(Minghui.org) Ms. Gao Xiuhua, 72, from Qingdao City, Shandong Province, was sentenced to one and a half years on March 22, 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Gao was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on September 10, despite her severe health conditions discovered during multiple physical examinations after she was arrested in March 2024. She was abused in Division 11 of the prison and her symptoms quickly worsened. She experienced chest pain on October 1 and was sent to the prison hospital’s inpatient care. She was given IV injections and discharged two days later. Afterwards, her chest pain increased. She also felt dizzy and had blurry vision and severe hearing loss. Her legs and feet swelled and she had trouble walking. The guards still forced her to sweep the floors of the prison restrooms.
The quality of the food was very poor but Ms. Gao was ordered to finish her meals or else face punishment. Her family visited her recently and couldn’t believe that this once healthy woman was now so weak and ill. The guards, however, claimed all her symptoms were a result of her advanced age. Her family is in the process of applying for medical parole for her.
Details of Arrests and Sentencing
Ms. Gao’s prison sentence stemmed from an initial arrest in late September 2023 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. Officers from the Lingshanwei Street Police Station in Huangdao District next raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and 500 yuan in cash. They released her on bail that night.
Three officers went to Ms. Gao’s home at 8 p.m. on March 14, 2024, and said she needed to fill out some paperwork at the police station. They promised to let her go home as soon as she was done. She went with them and was taken back into custody. The police said that the Huangdao District Procuratorate issued an arrest warrant for her.
Ms. Gao was driven to the Pudong Town Detention Center in Jimo City (which is under the administration of Qingdao City) the next morning, but she was denied admission after a mandatory physical examination found she was in poor health. She was taken back to the police station.
The police tried different hospitals in the next few days. They took her to the Haici Hospital on the morning of March 17 and brought her back to the police station that afternoon. She fainted the following evening and was rushed to the Kaifaqu Hospital for resuscitation. As soon as she came to, she was brought back to the police station at 11 p.m.
The multiple checkups revealed that Ms. Gao had heart disease, high blood pressure, tuberculosis, and only one working lung. Despite her condition, the police managed to persuade the Pudong County Detention Center to admit her on the morning of March 19.
The Huangdao District Court held a hearing of Ms. Gao’s case at the detention center on March 22 and sentenced her to one and a half years.
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