District Court in Handan City Secretly Sentences Elderly Ms. Hou Qiaozhen to Three Years

The District Court of Congtai in Handan City, Hebei Province secretly held a trial and sentenced Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Hou Qiaozhen to three years. She has been thin and weak since she was persecuted in 2000.

Ms. Hou Qiaozhen, who is approximately age 70, was a diligent and responsible teacher. Prior to practising Falun Gong, she suffered from many illnesses. After she began practising all of her illnesses disappeared.

In October 2000, Ms. Hou Qiaozhen was disseminating information about the persecution of Falun Gong. She was arrested by officers from the Heping Police Station in Handan City. She was then sent to the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp for one year.

While at the forced labour camp, Ms. Hou Qiaozhen was cruelly tortured. The police officers beat her, deprived her of sleep and subjected her to brainwashing.

Ms. Hou was mentally and physically devastated. She became feverish and could barely eat. She became thinner and thinner. When she was released, she was emaciated.

Even after she was sent home, she could hardly eat, and she suffered from diarrhoea. She is still thin and weak to this day. Police officers and resident committee members have been going to her home and harassing her.

On May, 30th, officers from the Heping Police Station, 610 Office¹ agents, resident committee members and over ten officers from the Congtai Domestic Security Division broke into Ms. Hou Qiaozhen's house and confiscated her personal property. They took over 10,000 yuan², a television, a DVD player, a notebook and other valuables. The items were worth 30,000 yuan. The police officers took Ms. Hou to the Heping Police Station and then to the First Detention Centre. They did not care about her fragile health.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/2/7/195001.html