(Minghui.org) It was recently learned that a 53-year-old woman in Yinan County, Shandong Province was admitted to Shandong Province Women’s Prison in November 2022 to serve a 4.5-year term.
The authorities had for the most part kept Ms. Gong Pirong’s family in the dark regarding her prosecution for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. They notified her family of her prison sentence in November 2022, but refused to say where she was ordered to serve time or other details of her indictment, trial, and sentencing.
Ms. Gong’s husband and older daughter struggled to focus on their jobs while seeking justice for her. Her younger daughter, who relied on her for care, had trouble caring for herself. Ms. Gong’s 98-year-old mother is also longing for her release.
Arrested in July 2022 and Secretly Sentenced Months Later
Ms. Gong was arrested by officers from the Jiehu Town Police Station on July 25, 2022, while doing a COVID-19 test. The police raided her two residences and confiscated her computer, printer, Falun Gong informational materials, and many other valuables. They took her to the Linyi City Detention Center and did not allow her family to visit her or deliver clothing to her.
Ms. Gong developed high blood sugar in August 2022 and was taken to the Renmin Hospital for treatment. Her family was ordered to pay 600 yuan for her physical examination, but were still denied visits with her. Their request to have her released on bail was also rejected.
Her family was notified in November 2022 that she had been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, but not told other details about her indictment, trial, sentencing, or detention location.
Past Persecution
Ms. Gong took up Falun Gong in 1999. Many of her ailments that had tormented her for years disappeared in two weeks. Ms. Gong went to Beijing in October 2000, a year after the onset of the persecution, to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong, only to be intercepted by the police in Tianjin and taken to a detention center. She was later transferred to the Yinan County Detention Center and forced to work without pay. She was released after her family paid the police nearly 8,000 yuan.
Ms. Gong was reported by a village official in the spring of 2001 and taken to a local brainwashing center, where she was beaten and forced to pay another 300 yuan in illegal fines.
The police suddenly showed up at Ms. Gong’s home in 2002 and searched everywhere. While they didn’t find anything related to Falun Gong, they harassed her daughter at school, terrifying the little girl.
Related report:
Shandong Woman Secretly Sentenced to 4.5 Years, Denied Family Visits
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