(Minghui.org) It was learned in late January 2024 that Ms. Hu Yurong, 54, from Qu County, Sichuan Province, was sentenced to seven years for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Hu was arrested on April 24, 2020, by officers from the Qu County Domestic Security Office and its subordinate, the Baocheng Police Station. The police have since kept her family in the dark regarding her case status. Her loved ones recently managed to find out about her prison sentence and learned that she is now held at the Chengdu Women’s Prison. They still do not know where she was held before her prison transfer or when she was indicted, tried, or sentenced.
This is not the first time Ms. Hu has been targeted for her faith. She was previously incarcerated for a total of nearly 16 years, including two forced labor terms and two prison sentences.
Given 6 Months of Forced Labor in 1999
Ms. Hu landed a job at a middle school in Lhasa, Tibet, after graduating from Nanchong Normal University in Sichuan Province in 1996. She began practicing Falun Gong later that year and was well regarded as a talented and patient teacher.
After the persecution began, then school principal Han Xiaowu used various means to try to make Ms. Hu renounce Falun Gong. She held firm to her faith, and Han reported her to the Lhasa 610 Office, which sentenced her to six months of forced labor in October 1999.
Sentenced to 5 Years after Appealing for Falun Gong in Beijing
Shortly after she was released, Ms. Hu went to Beijing in September 2000 with her 18-month-old son to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. She was arrested on Tiananmen Square and held in the Beijing No. 2 Detention Center for two months. The guards beat her and inserted bamboo sticks under her fingernails. She was covered with bruises and her clothes were stained with blood.
Ms. Hu was later escorted back to Lhasa and sentenced to five years by the Lhasa Court in January 2001. She was forced to do intensive unpaid labor, tortured, and verbally abused while serving time in Beijiao Prison in Lhasa.
The authorities extended Ms. Hu’s term and she wasn’t released until December 2006, having been incarcerated for six years and three months.
Ms. Hu’s school fired her after she was released, and the Lhasa authorities sent her back to her hometown in Sichuan.
Arrested Three Times in Sichuan in 2007
Ms. Hu was arrested in Qu County in July 2007 and held in the Qu County Lockup for 15 days.
Dozens of police officers broke into her home and attempted to arrest her on October 1, 2007. After she escaped, they searched her parents’ home. Her father and her brother were taken to the Baocheng Police Station and interrogated. Over 100 villagers were arranged to take turns monitoring her parents’ home for seven days. The police also searched her parents’ home several times, confiscating their cellphones and forbidding them from contacting anyone.
Ms. Hu was arrested two weeks later when she returned home. The Sichuan police took her back to Tibet. Her hands and feet were cuffed during the 48-hour trip and she lost feeling in them as a result. The police also did not give her anything to eat or drink during the trip.
It is unclear how long Ms. Hu was held in Tibet but she returned to Sichuan after she was released. She was arrested again in November 2007 and held at the Qu County Detention Center for two months.
Given 2 Years of Forced Labor in 2008
Not long after Ms. Hu was released from the detention center, she was arrested again on February 10, 2008, three days after the Chinese New Year. She was given two years of forced labor and taken to the Nanmusi Women’s Forced Labor Camp in Sichuan.
The guards instigated the inmates to beat her, deprive her of sleep, and deny her restroom use. The guards also held her in solitary confinement, tied up her hands and feet, and hung her up by her wrists. She was starved for six days. The guards also forced her to wear shorts in the winter and kneel for 24 hours.
Ms. Hu’s term was extended by two months and she was released in April 2010.
Sentenced to 7 Years in 2011 Following Arrest in Late 2010
A few months after Ms. Hu was released, she was arrested yet again on November 26, 2010, while she was looking for a job. The police beat her and dragged her into an unmarked police car.
She was tortured in the Qu County Detention Center and then taken to the Dazhou Psychiatric Hospital, where she was injected with unknown drugs and force-fed.
The Qu County Court sentenced Ms. Hu to seven years in prison on August 23, 2011, based on fabricated accounts from village officials accusing her of distributing Falun Gong informational materials. She was taken to the Jianyang Women’s Prison on December 8, 2011.
Related reports:
After Nearly 15 Years of Incarceration for Her Faith, Former Teacher Arrested Again
Ms. Hu Yurong, Previously Persecuted in a Forced Labor Camp, Illegally Sentenced to Seven Years
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