(Minghui.org) Three Beizhen City, Liaoning Province residents were sentenced to prison in January 2021 for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Below are the details.
Ms. Sun Ronghua was arrested on October 22, 2019 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police detained her for 15 days and then released her on bail. The Beizhen City Procuratorate notified her on November 28 that the police had submitted her case to them. On December 20, the Beizhen City Court told her to pick up her indictment.
Five police officers went to Ms. Sun’s home on January 3, 2020 and attempted to take her back into custody. As Ms. Sun wasn’t home, the police asked her family to bring her to the local police station once she came back. The police said they could have the court give her a light sentence if she cooperated with them, otherwise, they would put her on the wanted list online. Ms. Sun’s family refused to turn her in and she was forced to live away from home for months.
Ms. Sun was arrested at home at around 6 p.m. on January 11, 2021. She was taken to the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center on the next day. The police said it was the court that issued the order to arrest her.
Ms. Sun was tried through a video conference by the Beizhen City Court on January 20, 2021 and sentenced to two years.
Ms. Chen Xiujie and Ms. Zhang Guiqiu were arrested on February 12, 2020 while reading Falun Gong’s book together. The police said someone reported them. Both of their homes were ransacked and their Falun Gong books confiscated.
Ms. Zhang was released on the same day and Ms. Chen was let go after being held at the police station overnight. Her family paid 10,000 yuan bail bond for her.
The Beizhen City Procuratorate summoned both practitioners on July 20. The police also looked for Ms. Chen at her home.
Ms. Chen was arrested again at home on October 14. The police told her family that they would ask her a few questions and she would be back in twenty minutes. But she wasn’t released after the interrogation, and was instead taken directly to the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center.
As for Ms. Zhang, the procuratorate once told her that she was cleared of prosecution. But she was arrested in September 2020 and sentenced to one year by the Linghai City Court. She was being held at the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison at the time of writing.
Ms. Chen was tried by the Linghai City Court on January 21, 2021 and sentenced to eighteen months.