She was arrested for defending Wang Yu, a younger colleague who was one of the main victims of the 9 July 2015crackdown, one of the harshest on activists in China. Despite her age, she served her full sentence, six years and six months, for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.
Elderly Chinese rights lawyer who was tortured in detention is finally free
While she was incarcerated, this elderly [74-year old] woman was subjected to inhumane abuse and mental torture. This included denying her essential medicines for serious diseases such as heart issues, forcing her to take ice baths and depriving her of food and water. Officers also humiliated her by urinating on her food.
Li suffered multiple heart attacks in prison and lost her ability to walk unaided. Her family’s multiple appeals to secure her release on medical parole were all rejected.
[…]
According to Li’s lawyers, the evidence that she “picked quarrels and provoked trouble” [the reason why she has been detained] was her repeated petitioning attempts in Beijing and Shenyang on behalf of her son. And her “fraud” charge? Well, that was attributed to her applications for financial assistance for her son’s mental disability.
[Edit typo.]