(Minghui.org) After nearly one year of detention, a 42-year-old woman was recently sentenced to two years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan for her faith in Falun Gong.

Ms. Zhang Lihua, originally from Shandong, was arrested in October 2017 while working in Beijing. The police then brought her back from Beijing to Shandong. She was detained at Dezhou Detention Center.

Ms. Zhang's arrest came shortly after the arrest of her husband, Mr. Yang Jin, who was targeted by the police for talking to people about Falun Gong. A dozen officers broke into their home late at night, handcuffed him and then brought him to the Linpan Police Department. Two officers stayed behind and ransacked his home, confiscating his computers, Falun Gong flyers and books, and some equipment he used to produce the home-made flyers.

Mr. Yang was interrogated for several days at the police station and then detained for 15 days at Dezhou Detention Center.

Although Mr. Yang was later released after paying the police 1,000 yuan, Ms. Zhang remained in detention. Her arrest was approved by Linyi Procuratorate on November 29, 2017.

It wasn't clear what led to the release of Mr. Yang and sentencing of Ms. Zhang, whose arrest was triggered by her husband's efforts to let people know about their shared faith.

This was the second time that Ms. Zhang was targeted for her faith in Falun Gong. In August 2012, she was given 17 months of detention at Jinan No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp for talking to people about the persecution.

The couple began practicing Falun Gong in 2005 and have been trying to raise awareness of the persecution.