(Minghui.org) A married couple in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, was recently sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Ren Guifen was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on November 2, 2022, to serve a three-year term. She is in the 12th ward. Her family is not allowed to visit her or make cash deposits for her. Her husband, Mr. Li Hongjun, was also sentenced to three years, but details about his case are unclear.
The couple and Ms. Ren’s sister, Ms. Ren Guie, were arrested on December 8, 2021, and held in the Benxi City Detention Center.
The sisters were tried by the Nanfen District Court on June 22, 2022, in a virtual hearing. Ms. Ren Guifen acted in her own defense and entered a not-guilty plea. She argued that no law in China has ever deemed Falun Gong a crime and that the Chinese Publication Bureau lifted the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011.
The judge later sentenced Ms. Ren Guifen to three years. It’s not clear if her sister was convicted.
Mr. Li suffered from extremely high blood pressure in the detention center. After he was taken to the hospital, the Nanfen District Court planned to try him virtually in the hospital. It’s not clear if a hearing ever took place before he was sentenced.
Past Persecution
This isn’t the first time that the couple has been persecuted for their faith. Mr. Li was given three years in the Benxi City Forced Labor Camp in 2000 for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. Although he was released in September 2001 to serve the remaining time at home, the authorities kept harassing him, forcing him to live away from home three months later.
Mr. Li was arrested again in Liaoyang City on May 12, 2002, for trying to put up informational materials about Falun Gong. The Hongwei District Court secretly sentenced him to ten years in August 2002. He was admitted to Shenyang First Prison two months later and transferred to another prison a month after that. His family wasn’t allowed to visit him or even told where he was incarcerated.
Ms. Ren was also given three years in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in the early years of the persecution. She was subjected to constant beatings and intensive brainwashing. She was also forced to work without pay for at least 16 hours a day.
Ms. Ren’s next arrest was in July 2003. She was sentenced to 12 years by the Pingshan District Court in early November 2003. In Liaoning Province Women’s Prison, she had to work without pay until 9 p.m. and then stand from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. or later. The inmates took turns watching her. They beat her if she dozed off. The inmates also monitored her during the day while she was working and beat her if she got sleepy.
Ms. Ren was forced to leave home to hide from the police after she was released. Her young school-age daughter and her mother, in her 70s, struggled to get by.
Related report:
Two Sisters Tried and One of Their Husbands Faces Trial, All for Their Faith in Falun Gong
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