(Minghui.org) While still recovering from the terrible trauma after decade-long imprisonment and torture, a 52-year-old former teacher in Shulan City, Jilin Province was sentenced again to 3.5 years in December 2020 for seeking justice for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999.
When Ms. Song Yanqun’s father, in his 80s, went to Jilin Province Women’s Prison on February 27, 2023, to visit her, the prison kept him waiting from morning until 4 p.m., before arranging the visit.
Ms. Song was carried out by two inmates. All of her hair had turned gray. Her eyes were dull. Her limbs were shaking. Her speech was also slurred. She told her father that she was staying in the prison hospital and receiving regular shots. But when he asked her how long she had stayed in the hospital, she said she didn’t know. He asked her how old was her mother, she also answered “I don’t know.”
Ms. Song was arrested on March 26, 2020, for writing a letter to Li Keqiang, the then-Chinese Communist Party’s Premier, to call for justice for Falun Gong.
She was tried by the Shulan City Court through a video conference on November 10, 2020. Her lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for her and she also testified in her own defense. The court informed Ms. Song’s family in late December of her 3.5-year sentence.
Prior to her latest sentence, Ms. Song served 12 years in prison between 2003 and 2014. She was in serious condition and had been reduced to skin and bones when she was released.
Ms. Song isn’t the only one in her family who has been persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. Her younger sister, Ms. Song Bing, was sentenced to 14 years in 2004. She contracted tuberculosis in custody and was later released to serve time outside of prison. As the police kept harassing her over the years, she was forced to live away from home several times to avoid being arrested. Her health never recovered, and she died on July 30, 2009.