(Minghui.org) Four Falun Gong practitioners in Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, were sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Liu Chunqin, Ms. Liu Rongpei, Mr. Li Qingjun, and Ms. Zheng Qiong were arrested between July 20 and 23, 2025, during a police sweep by officers from the Lusong District Police Department and its subordinates, including the Longquan Police Station, the Jianning Police Station, and the Songjiaqiao Police Station. Numerous officers were dispatched to raid the practitioners’ homes.
The practitioners were indicted by the Lusong District Procuratorate and sentenced by the Lusong District Court at unknown times. Ms. Liu Chunqin was sentenced to four years, Ms. Liu Rongpei to three and a half years, Mr. Li to three years and three months, and Ms. Zheng to three years. All four of them have appealed the verdicts.
Two additional practitioners who were arrested in the police sweep, Mr. Yi Dijun and Mr. Zhao Jian, are currently awaiting verdicts by the Lusong District Court.
Mr. Li began practicing Falun Gong in 1996 while he attended college. He was the general manager at a company for decades. Since the onset of the persecution in 1999, he has been repeatedly arrested and detained in various facilities, including brainwashing centers, lockups, detention centers, forced labor camps, and prison.
While in custody, Mr. Li was subjected to all kinds of torture methods, including beatings, sitting on a small stool motionless for hours, electric shocks, and involuntary drug administration. In addition to the physical torture, he was also extorted by the police and had his salaries and pension suspended.
Mr. Li was arrested in Beijing in 2000 and detained at the Huairou County Detention Center. The guards strangled him with a leather belt. They also shocked him on the face, lips, and abdomen with electric batons, causing severe burns.
Mr. Li was arrested a few more times between 2000 and November 2001. On November 8, 2001, while he was detained at the Shaoyang City Brainwashing Center, he held a hunger strike in protest. Five days later, on November 13, the police transferred him to the Shaoyang City Detention Center. After more than 80 days, he was transferred to the Shaodong County Drug Rehabilitation Center on February 2, 2002, and then taken to the Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp on February 7, 2002, to serve a one-year term.
Mr. Li’s latest arrest was on July 22, 2025, and he was sentenced to prison in July 2026.