(Minghui.org) A Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, resident was recently sentenced to a six-year prison term for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Li Honghong, 53, owned a small bedding shop. Because she gave a customer a calendar with information about Falun Gong on October 29, 2021, she was reported to the police and arrested on January 23, 2022. Both her shop and home were ransacked.

After 14 days at the police station, Ms. Li was transferred to the Shenyang City No. 1 Detention Center on February 8, 2022. The police submitted her case to the Liaozhong District Procuratorate in late February. The prosecutor indicted her in June and moved her case to the Liaozhong District Court.

The judge held a virtual hearing of Ms. Li’s case on November 24, 2022. Her family wasn’t allowed to attend the session. She testified in her own defense and insisted that she hadn’t violated any laws by practicing Falun Gong.

Ms. Li’s family was informed in early January 2023 that she had been sentenced to six years and fined 20,000 yuan. She has appealed the verdict.

During a year of detention, Ms. Li lost over 30 pounds, her hair turned gray, and she developed high blood pressure. The interruption of her business caused much financial distress to her family. Her ailing husband is also left at home to fend for himself.