(Minghui.org) Two 62-year-old women from Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province were arrested 130 miles away in Datong City, Shanxi Province for talking to people about the benefits of Falun Gong. They are now serving their nine-month term in Chenzhuang Detention Center in Datong.
Both Ms. Zhou Xiulian (周凤莲) and Ms. Li Xiulin (李秀林) used to suffer from neurosis, and it was Falun Gong that helped them regain their health.
Having benefited from Falun Gong, they told others about the practice and how it is wrong for the Chinese Communist Party to persecute Falun Gong.
Such a simple act, however, landed both women in detention. They were captured by agents from Chaigoubao Town Railway Police Station in Datong City on May 5 and soon taken to Chenzhuang Detention Center.
Both women's families traveled from Hebei to Shanxi numerous times, requesting to visit their loved ones. However, Datong police turned them away using various excuses. In particular, a deputy police chief lied to the families on May 27 that both women would be released in just a few days and there was no need for an immediate meeting.
When Ms. Zhou's husband voiced his worry that no one would be available to take care of him following his upcoming surgery, the same police chief replied, “Well, you go get a doctor's note and come back to us. I promise to release her then.”
The families returned on June 12 and asked that police chief to deliver on his promise. A captain delivered the news that both practitioners' cases had been transferred to the Procuratorate without their knowledge.
The women were tried separately on December 19.
Both practitioners' lawyers defended their clients' right to practice and tell the public about Falun Gong. Judge Zhang Jian of Datong Railway Transportation Court sentenced both women to nine months.
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