(Minghui.org) Six Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, residents were sentenced on June 28, 2022, for practicing Falun Gong. Four of them received 3-10 years and the other two practitioners’ verdicts remain to be investigated.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Yun was first arrested on April 25, 2021, as she returned home after work. The other five practitioners, including Ms. Liu Guohua, Ms. Xie Shiying, 70; Ms. Zhou Yuxiu; and Mr. Huang Huaizhou, 63, and his wife Ms. Zhang Xunju, 61, were arrested at around 6 a.m. on May 12, 2021. The police smashed the practitioners’ locks and broke in.
The police confiscated an old computer from Ms. Liu and asked for 240,000 yuan from her family in exchange for her release. It’s not clear whether her family complied.
After a year of detention, the practitioners appeared at Xindu District Court on June 28, 2022. The court didn’t inform their family members until the morning of their trial. After the families rushed to the court, the bailiffs ordered them to be tested for COVID-19. When they were finally allowed into the courtroom, the judge had already announced the verdicts.
Ms. Zhang was sentenced to ten years. Ms. Li received seven years. Ms. Liu and Mr. Huang were given five and three years, respectively. Ms. Xie and Ms. Zhou’s verdicts are unknown.
Ms. Zhang took up Falun Gong in January 1999. Her many ailments, including stomach and gynecological conditions, were cured. Her temper also changed for the better.
When the persecution started in July 1999, Ms. Zhang was under tremendous pressure, facing constant harassment. She was arrested in 2000 and ordered to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She was arrested again in the winter of 2001 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials. The police kicked her and slapped her in the face. She was held in a lock-up for a month and then taken to a brainwashing center for another month.
Ms. Xie began to practice Falun Gong on March 25, 1997. She also credits the practice for curing her many ailments, such as insomnia, constipation, and vertigo. She lives by the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” and gradually has become more forgiving and considerate.
Sun Zenhui (孙泽晖), president of Xindu District Procuratorate: +86-13908011161Zhou Bin (周斌), president of Xindu District Court: +86-13981962496Lei Xiangdong (雷向东), head of Xindu District Police Department: +86-13881869666
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)