(Minghui.org) Three women in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province were convicted on August 1, 2023 for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
The Linghai City Court sentenced Ms. Zhang Xiuying, 71, to three and a half years with a 7,000-yuan fine; Ms. Zhang Yufeng (no relation), 60, to three years with a 6,000-yuan fine; and Ms. Wang Enying, 71, to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine.
Linghai City is under the jurisdiction of Jinzhou City, about 60 miles from Chaoyang. Both the Linghai City Procuratorate and the Linghai City Court have been designated to handle local Falun Gong cases since 2020, as a way to expedite the prosecution process.
Minghui.org previously reported that Ms. Zhang Xiuying had received three years. In addition to the updates on her prison term, the following additional details also became available.
The three practitioners were arrested at 9 a.m. on March 7, 2023, by chief Li Yafei and officer Ma Haoran from the Batuyingchezhan Police Station. The police suspected that the practitioners had put up four self-adhesive stickers bearing Falun Gong information under a bridge.
The practitioners’ backpacks were confiscated, and their homes were later raided by officers from the Beita Police Station and the Jinzhou Railroad Police Department. The police confiscated 250 Falun Gong-related items from Ms. Zhang Xiuying’s home and some Falun Gong books from Ms. Wang’s home. They only found a banknote printed with Falun Gong messages from Ms. Zhang Yufeng’s home.
The practitioners were held at the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center after their arrests. The Linghai City Procuratorate issued formal arrest warrants against them on March 23 and indicted them on June 12. Prosecutor Li Yicong and his assistant Zhao Lihong attended the three practitioners’ court hearing, the exact date of which remains unknown. Judge Huang Yanchun presided over the trial. Judges Liu Dan and Wang Run, assistant to the judges Tie Yan, and clerk Li Pengru were also present during the trial.
The Linghai City Court convicted all three practitioners on August 1. It is unclear when they’ll be transferred to prison to serve time.
Past Persecution of Ms. Zhang Yufeng
Ms. Zhang Yufeng, a 54-year-old farmer, took up Falun Gong in 1996 and many of her ailments disappeared shortly after.
After the persecution started in 1999, Ms. Zhang tried to walk to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong (to avoid police checkpoints in the public transportation system). However, she was intercepted in Yangshugou Township, Jianchang County, Liaoning Province, about 60 miles south of Chaoyang City. She was then taken back to Chaoyang.
Ms. Zhang went to Beijing to appeal again on February 1, 2000 and was stopped by the police in Pingquan County, Hebei Province. She was also taken back to Chaoyang and held at the Chaoyang City Lockup for 30 days. Afterwards, the local police often came to harass her and her family members, causing tremendous disruption to their daily lives.
Ms. Zhang was arrested again by over 20 officers from the Beita Police Station on July 23, 2013, after being reported for hanging up Falun Gong banners earlier in the day. Her home was also ransacked. She was given 15 days of detention. For the next two years, officers from the Beita Police Station harassed her at home seven times.
Ms. Wang Enying’s Previous Prison Sentence
Ms. Wang was arrested on September 10, 2019 and held for five days. She was arrested again in early 2003 for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was force fed after holding a hunger strike in the detention center to protest the persecution. She was later sentenced to three years in the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Related report:
Three Liaoning Residents Sentenced for Distributing Falun Gong Materials
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