Tuesday, January 7, 2003

The Falun Gong spiritual movement has been trying to get its message to the public by taking over television airwaves

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- A court in western China has sentenced four members of the Falun Gong, including a 34-year-old woman, to up to 20 years in jail for [intercepting] cable television signals, a court official said on Tuesday.

The sentence is the latest punishment handed out by China to followers of the banned spiritual movement, who have been taking over radio and television signals in some areas with broadcasts promoting their cause.

The sentences were announced by the Intermediate People's Court in the city of Xining, capital of the impoverished western province of Qinghai, on December 30, said the official, who declined to be named.

[...]

Zhang Rongjuan, a 34-year-old woman, was sentenced to 20 years in jail, the official said. The names of the other three or their sentences were not given.

[...]

The case is not the first in which the much maligned spiritual group, banned in 1999 [...] tried to get its message to the public by taking over television airwaves or cables.

Falun Gong's U.S.-based information center said in a statement eight other practitioners were recently given sentences of up to 13 years in prison for tapping into local television and radio signals in the eastern province of Anhui.

And in September last year, China handed prison terms of four to 20 years to 15 Falun Gong members for commandeering state TV broadcasts in northeastern China in March.

China has waged a fierce battle to snuff out Falun Gong that has curtailed the group's once common demonstrations. As protests [continue], the group switched tactics, overriding TV signals to broadcast footage proclaiming the virtues of Falun Gong.

Falun Gong says more than 1,600 members have been killed at the hands of the police. [...]

http://asia.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/01/07/china.falungong.reut/