(Minghui.org) An 81-year-old cancer-stricken woman from Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, was admitted to the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison around February 2025, after she lost her appeal against a 3.5-year prison term for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The ordeal of Ms. Zhao Ying, a retired bank manager, stemmed from her arrest on April 26, 2021, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. After she was released on May 11, 2021, due to high blood pressure, the police frequently harassed her at home.
The mental pressure of the persecution took a toll on Ms. Zhao’s health. She fainted at home on December 12, 2021, and was diagnosed with bladder cancer. She was operated on twice and had several rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Ms. Zhao was arrested again on August 1, 2024, when she returned from a trip to her hometown in Huaian City, Jiangsu Province. The police accused her of “trying to escape.” Ms. Zhao argued that the one-year bail condition she was given on February 22, 2023 had already expired, and she was free to travel anywhere, anytime. The police still put her in the Tianhe District Detention Center.
Ms. Zhao was made to stand trial in the Haizhu District Court on September 5, 2024 and sentenced to a 3.5-year prison term with a 5,000-yuan fine on October 29. She appealed with the Guangzhou City Intermediate Court, which ruled on December 30, 2024 to uphold the original verdict. The judges accused her of “trying to escape” and stated that she was “harmful to society.”
In addition to the bladder cancer, Ms. Zhao is also struggling with a number of other serious illnesses, including a heart condition, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Despite her medical condition and advanced age, the authorities still transferred her to the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison around February 2025. Her family are very worried about her.
The authorities in Guangdong Province Women’s Prison are notorious for persecuting elderly Falun Gong practitioners. Ms. Yao Jingjiao was sentenced to three years in 2022 when she was almost 83 years old. She became critically ill while serving time in prison, and passed away on November 20, 2024, just weeks after she was released on parole. She was only a month shy of her 85th birthday.
Prior to her latest persecution, Ms. Zhao has been repeatedly targeted over the past 26 years for upholding her faith. She was arrested six times before the 2021 arrest, and her home was ransacked at least five times. She was once deprived of sleep for six days straight while in custody. Her son and daughter have also been implicated and harassed by the police.
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80-Year-Old Guangdong Woman Stands Trial for Practicing Falun Gong
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