(Minghui.org) Nine residents in two neighboring provinces were sentenced on December 15, 2022 for upholding their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Zhou Junmei, 58, was given 3 years and 10 months, and fined 10,000 yuan.Ms. Zhang Xia, 34, was given 3 years and 2 months, and fined 10,000 yuan.Ms. Du Lianhong, 54, was given 2 years and fined 5,000 yuan.Mr. Wu Xuelin, 74, was given 1 year and 10 months, and fined 5,000 yuan. He is currently under residential surveillance.Ms. Zhang Guiyun, 56, was given 1 year and 3 months and fined 5,000 yuan.Ms. Deng Xinhua, 48, was given 1 year and 3 months, and fined 5,000 yuan.Ms. Zhang Baoshun 73, was given 10 months and fined 5,000 yuan.Mr. Su Shaofeng, 45, was given 8 months and fined 5,000 yuan.Mr. Deng Hongtao, 74, was given 6 months and fined 4,000 yuan.

Ms. Du and Ms. Zhang Guiyun are residents of Yanshan County, Hebei Province, while the other practitioners are residents of Leling City, Shandong Province. The two places are about 20 miles away from each other.

The nine practitioners were jointly tried by the Leling City Court. The presiding judge was Huang Shuai, and his two assistant judges were Song Yinqiang and Wang Jin. The clerk was Han Pengfei.

The sentencing stemmed from a mass arrest on July 21, 2022, when Leling City Domestic Security Office led police stations in every district of the city and arrested more than ten practitioners, including the above-mentioned nine practitioners.

All of the arrested practitioners had their homes raided and Falun Gong materials confiscated. The practitioners were first held at Leling City Domestic Security Office and later transferred to Dezhou City Detention Center in Shandong Province.

When Leshan police went to Yanshan County to arrest Ms. Zhang Guiyun, her husband tried to stop the police and was handcuffed by police. His mother, who lived with him, called in his brother and sister-in-law for help. Upon their strong protests, the police eventually removed the handcuffs after more than one hour. The police still arrested Ms. Zhang and confiscated her Falun Gong books and more than 10 DVDs containing information about Falun Gong.

Ms. Du’s husband later went to Leling City Domestic Security Office to seek her release, but was deceived into signing some documents without being given the chance to read what was written there.