(Minghui.org) Two residents of Dandong City, Liaoning Province were sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body improvement discipline that has been persecuted by the communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhang Ming was given one year and fined 2,000 yuan. Mr. Li Quancheng received three years and fined 5,000 yuan.
Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li were arrested on June 29, 2018, after a traffic officer found Falun Gong materials in their car. The police ransacked their residences, interrogated them and kept them at Kuandian Detention Center.
The two practitioners appeared in Zhen'an District Court on March 18, 2019. The court didn't inform their families of the court hearing until 9 p.m. on the night before. Mr. Zhang's lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him and argued there is no legal basis for the persecution of Falun Gong.
The judge issued the verdicts on March 27, and the practitioners have appealed their cases to Dandong City Intermediate Court.
Mr. Zhang is not the only one in his family targeted for practicing Falun Gong. His wife, Ms. Xiu Jinqiu, was persecuted to death on November 28, 2013, less than three months after her last arrest. Their only daughter, Ms. Zhang Hongyu, is currently residing in the U.S. and has been trying to secure Mr. Zhang's release.
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