(Clearwisdom.net) (Correspondent from Yunnan Province) On September 29, 2009, the Hongta District Court sentenced practitioner Ms. Deng Zhixu from Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, to five years in prison.

In October 2000 Ms. Deng went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. The police illegally arrested her. She was then detained at the Dabanqiao Women's Forced Labor Camp in Kunming City. In November 2006 while distributing truth clarifying materials, Ms. Deng was reported to the police. She was sent to the Hongta District Police Department. Later she escaped and has since then been living away from her home.

On June 24, 2009, police arrested Ms. Deng at the East Railway Station of Kunming. Two days later, policeman He Xiaopei and others from Yuxi sent her to the Jiulongchi Detention Center. Ms. Deng went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, and was subjected to brutal forced-feeding. To rescue her, her family sold their house to be able to afford a lawyer. The lawyer, after learning that the case was related to Falun Gong, told the family that a special meeting was organized to convey the message from top authorities that all lawyers are prohibited from defending Falun Gong practitioners.

On September 29, the Hongta District Court started Ms. Deng's trial without notifying her family. The court reached a verdict without Ms. Deng's signature or the record of interrogation. On November 2, Ms. Deng was sent to the Yunnan Provincial Second Prison for a term of five years.