(Minghui.org) Ms. Sun Shuang, 36, from the Fangshan District in Beijing was sentenced to five years and fined 5,000-yuan on March 20, 2025, for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.

She was arrested at her home on November 22, 2023, after she was reported for distributing calendars earlier that day. The calendars had information about Falun Gong. The arrest was led by captain Wang Xu from the Fangshan District Police Department. They confiscated her Falun Gong books, computer, printer, cell phone, and other personal items.

The police promised to release Ms. Sun if she agreed to sign the detention notice and the interrogation records. She believed them and signed the documents, only to be given criminal detention and taken to the Fangshan District Detention Center.

Ms. Sun’s case was submitted to the Fangshan District Procuratorate in late December 2023. Prosecutor Wang Jun indicted her in April 2024. The Fangshan District Court tried her on June 17, 2024, and convicted her on March 20, 2025. Presiding judge Liu Ying signed the verdict.

Ms. Sun filed an appeal. Her mother, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was forced to go into hiding either in late 2023 or early 2024 after the police threatened to arrest her when she sought her daughter’s release.

Ms. Sun took up Falun Gong after witnessing how her mother recovered from her health problems. Her mother was later given three forced labor terms and one prison term for practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Sun always supported her mother despite the persecution.