(Minghui.org) Two men in Hebei Province were recently sentenced to prison for installing satellite dishes capable of receiving uncensored news about Falun Gong, a mind-body practice being persecuted by the Chinese communist.
Falun Gong practitioners have been using creative means, such as installing satellite dishes, to debunk the lies perpetrated against their faith by state propaganda.
Mr. Yang Yueliang and Mr. Liu Wenting, residents of Cangzhou City, were arrested on August 4, 2016, after being reported to the police for helping a customer install a satellite receiver capable of receiving New Tang Dynasty (NTD) programs.
NTD is a New York-based global news and entertainment media that specializes in providing uncensored coverage about China, including the persecution of Falun Gong.
Officers from Shengfo Police Station took Mr. Yang and Mr. Liu to Yanshan County Detention Center, where the two remain. Mr. Liu was released on bail a month later but was taken back into custody on September 25, 2018.
Mr. Liu and Mr. Yang appeared in court three times, with all three hearings held at the detention center. The first hearing on August 17, 2017, ended when the prosecutor requested to have the case returned to them so they could gather more evidence.
During the second hearing on December 11, 2017, at the request of the defense lawyers, the prosecutor played a DVD of an NTD program about the Art of Zhen-Shan-Ren International Exhibition for about 20 minutes. Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) are the main principles of Falun Gong, and the lawyers argued that the NTD program showed nothing illegal.
The lawyers again refuted the charges against their clients when the hearing resumed on May 14, 2018.
Yanshan Court sentenced Mr. Yang to 3.5 years and Mr. Liu 2.5 years in early October.
This is not the first time that Mr. Yang has been targeted for his belief in Falun Gong. In 2003, he was sentenced to 10 years in Shijiazhuang City Fourth Prison.
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