63 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in November 2021

 

The prison terms given to the practitioners ranged from 6 months to 10 years, with an average of three years and two months. Some practitioners who were given lengthy terms were also levied heavy fines.

A Guizhou Province practitioner who was sentenced to ten years was fined 50,000 yuan by the court. He also had 80,000 yuan confiscated by the police when his home was ransacked. Another Guangdong Province resident who was given eight years was fined 80,000 yuan.

 

Sixteen of the sentenced practitioners were 60 or older, including those in their 70s and 80s. A 79-year-old practitioner was sentenced to four years.

Some practitioners were sentenced for sharing with people how Falun Gong cured their illnesses; some were convicted for raising awareness about the persecution; and one woman was imprisoned simply for having couplets bearing messages about Falun Gong on her door.

Below are snapshots of the cases reported in November 2021. The full list of sentenced practitioners can be downloaded here (PDF).

 

Heavy Terms

 

Three Guizhou Residents Sentenced to Up to Ten Years

Three residents of the Guian New District (a city-level district), Guizhou Province, were sentenced to prison by the Nanming District Court in Guiyang City on October 25, 2021.

Mr. Zhang Tingxiang was sentenced to ten years with a 50,000-yuan fine.Ms. Zhang Wei was sentenced to eight years with a 30,000-yuan fine.Ms. Pang Ping was sentenced to three years with a 10,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Zhang, 58, and Ms. Pang, 62, both retired employees of a machinery factory, were arrested on April 18, 2019 while distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.

Mr. Zhang, 52, an employee of another machinery factory, was arrested at home on April 21, 2019, by over 30 officers. The police confiscated his Falun Gong books, computer, cellphone, and 80,000 yuan in cash. His family frequented the detention centre to visit him, but was rejected each time and only allowed to make cash deposits for him.

The presiding judge, Yi Li, has been actively participating in sentencing Falun Gong practitioners. She previously sentenced Ms. Tian Deyu, in her 70s, in 2018 and Ms. Li Yuanyou in 2020, both to three years in prison.

 

Guangdong Man Sentenced to Heavy Term with Heavy Fine

Mr. Zeng Fanjie, of Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, was recently sentenced to eight years in prison with an 80,000-yuan fine.

Mr. Zeng was arrested at home on January 26, 2021. He appeared twice in the Mei County District Court, first on July 20 and then on September 23, 2021. His lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him and argued against the lack of legal basis for the persecution. Mr. Zeng’s family attended the second hearing, which only lasted 20 minutes.

Mr. Zeng isn’t the only one in his family to have been persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. His father, Mr. Zeng Haiping, was arrested on June 21, 2018, and sentenced to five years in March 2019. His father-in-law, Mr. Zhu Xiansheng, served a five-year term and was released in late 2020.

 

Five Hebei Residents Sentenced to Up to Eight Years for Their Faith

Five Tangshan City, Hebei Province residents were sentenced to prison on October 15, 2021 for practicing Falun Gong.

Ms. Geng Fuxia was sentenced to eight years with a 10,000 yuan fine.Mr. Wei Guoshen was sentenced to three years and eight months with a 5,000 yuan fine. Ms. Wang Xiuhong was sentenced to three years with a 3,000 yuan fine.Ms. Fu Ruiying was sentenced to two years with a 3,000 yuan fine.Ms. Lu Caiyun was sentenced to one year and five months with a 3,000 yuan fine.

The practitioners were arrested in a police sweep on June 18, 2020. Ms. Geng, Ms. Fu, and Mr. Wei were later released on bail due to health issues. Ms. Lu and Ms. Wang remain in custody in the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Centre.

During the hearing in the Zunhua Court on September 15, 2021, Mr. Wei testified that the police covered his head with a plastic bag filled with an unknown drug three times within a few hours. He almost suffocated from the fumes and couldn’t stop crying. Foggy-headed, he repeated what the police told him to say.

The prosecutor claimed that of the 18,400 yuan in cash confiscated from Mr. Wei, the police had returned 8,400 yuan, which Mr. Wei said he never received. Mr. Wei added that the Liushahe Police Station officers intimidated him and searched his home again prior to the hearing. The police also forced him to sign and press his fingerprints on a document stating that 10,000 out of the 18,400 yuan confiscated from him was a fine imposed on him, and that he should also not expect to get back the remaining 8,400 yuan.

When she defended herself, Ms. Geng presented several Falun Gong keepsakes used as evidence to charge her and other practitioners. “Take a look at them! How do I undermine law enforcement with these items?” She also said that practicing her faith was a constitutionally protected right.

 

Financial Persecution by the Police

 

Shandong Man Sentenced to Three Years, 170K Yuan Confiscated by Police

Mr. Huang Zhili, a Mengyin County, Shandong Province resident, was arrested at his rental apartment on December 18, 2020. The police confiscated the 170,000 yuan in cash he had prepared to buy a home and refused to return it. His son and parents-in-law were also arrested and briefly detained.

Mr. Huang has since been denied family visits. It’s recently reported that he was sentenced to three years in July 2021 and has been taken to the Shandong Province Prison.

This is the second time that Mr. Huang, a 48-year-old native of Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, has been sentenced for practicing Falun Gong.

Mr. Huang used to work at the technical department of a gypsum board factory and won a “10 Under 30” award. He lost his job after he was sentenced to three years in Wuxi Prison in Jiangsu Province following an arrest in April 2007. For refusing to do forced labor, he was held in a strict management team for 32 days in December 2009.

While he was serving time, his wife returned to her own parents’ home in Mengyin with their 8-year-old son. Mr. Huang also moved there after he was released. After the Xuzhou police found out, they chased him down in Mengyin and threatened to cancel his family’s household registration in order to force him to renounce Falun Gong.

 

Shandong Woman Sentenced for Her Faith – Thousands of Yuan in Cash and Car Confiscated by Police

Ms. Zang Shuling, a Laoling City, Shandong Province resident, was arrested on March 24, 2021, while traveling in Yanshan County, Hebei Province. The police confiscated her car and other belongings.

The police later submitted Ms. Zang’s case to the Laoling City Procuratorate. Her family hired a lawyer for her, but Huang Shuai, the vice president of Laoling City Court, tried to block the lawyer from representing her.

Ms. Zang was tried through a virtual hearing on October 16, 2021. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. The judge sentenced her to 3.5 years on October 16, 2021.

Prior to her arrest, the police showed up at her home on June 2, 2020. The local village secretary, who accompanied the police, borrowed a ladder from one of her neighbors for the police to scale her fence. Another neighbor saw what happened and said to the police that it was illegal for them to enter her home when no one was at home. The police didn’t listen, but confiscated over 10,000 yuan in cash, two 20,000-yuan bank deposit notes, and two printers from her place. Her debit card was also taken away and her bank account was frozen afterward.

 

Four Farmers’ Families Extorted by the Police

Four farmers were deceived by the police into going to a detention centre, where they were sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong.

Ms. Sun Yueqin, Ms. Xu Mingxia, Ms. Zhang Xifang and Ms. Zhang Meihua are residents of Xiedian Township, Guan County, Shandong Province. They were first arrested on September 12, 2018, when they went to neighboring Ying Town in Daming County, Hebei Province to distribute informational materials about Falun Gong.

The arresting officers were from the Ying Town Police Station. The next day, Li Hongna and several other officers from the Daming County Police Department took the four women to the Handan City No. 3 Detention Centre. Daming County is under the administration of Handan City in Hebei Province.

Officer Li ransacked the four practitioners’ homes and confiscated many of their personal belongings. The children at home were frightened and cried during the raid. It’s reported that Ms. Zhang Meihua’s family was extorted for over 100,000 yuan. Her cellphone and computer were also taken. Her husband was traumatized and had to be hospitalised for a month after he suffered a mental breakdown. The other three practitioners were extorted for at least 30,000 yuan each.

Ms. Zhang Meihua, Ms. Zhang Xifang and Ms. Xu were released on November 2, 2018. Ms. Sun was released four days later.

Although the practitioners never received any updates from the police about their case, they were deceived into going to a detention centre on November 4, 2021 by several officers from the Feixiang District Police Station in Handan City.

It’s announced that Ms. Xu and Ms. Zhang Meihua were sentenced to 1.5 years, while Ms. Sun and Ms. Zhang Xifang each got one year. It’s unclear what detention centre it was and which court sentenced the practitioners.

The practitioners’ families are also not sure why the Feixiang District Police Station got involved when they were arrested by agents from the Ying Town Police Station.

 

Elderly Targeted

 

79-year-old Woman Sentenced to Four Years for Practicing Falun Gong

When Ms. Wang Jingcui’s family called the police on October 15, 2021, to inquire about her case, they were devastated to learn that the 79-year-old woman has been sentenced to four years for practicing Falun Gong. The court had also withdrawn 10,000 yuan from her bank account as a fine without informing her family.

Ms. Wang, of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested in November 2019 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a farmers’ market. The police ransacked her home and released her on bail due to her poor health, after holding her at the police station for five hours. Since then, the police often called her son and ordered him to sign a statement renouncing Falun Gong on her behalf.

Even though Ms. Wang suffered declining health and was unable to walk, the police arrested her again at home on May 8, 2021, and took her to Daqing City No.2 Detention Centre in a wheelchair. She fell into critical condition there and was resuscitated. The authorities barred her family from visiting her after taking her back to the detention centre.

Ms. Wang was later sentenced to four years by the Daqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone Court. It’s not clear whether she has been taken to prison at the time of writing.

Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Wang, a former employee of the Daqing Oil Production Plant, has been arrested six times. She was sentenced to prison twice and given a labor camp term.

 

Two Women, Age 72 and 80, Convicted for Practicing Falun Gong

A prosecutor in Jining City, Shandong Province promised not to seek prison sentences against two local residents, Ms. Li Guirong and Ms. Song Chengkui, due to their advanced age, she nevertheless recommended prison sentences against them, of 3 and 1.5 years, respectively. Both Ms. Li, 72, and Ms. Song, 80, were later given the recommended sentences.

The two elderly women were first arrested in June 2020 while sitting near the Rencheng District Court. The police accused them of “besieging the court.” Their homes were ransacked and they were released on bail.

Ms. Li was arrested and had her home ransacked again after she was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials on April 10, 2021. The police kept harassing her family and extorted a 2,000-yuan gift card from her daughter, claiming that by giving it to the judge, she would get a lighter sentence.

After the police submitted Ms. Li and Ms. Song’s cases to the Rencheng District Procuratorate in May 2021, prosecutor Li Na assured their families that they didn’t have to hire lawyers as the judge would most likely give the two practitioners probation terms due to their advanced age. She said that she would not seek prison sentences.

The two practitioners’ families believed the prosecutor, only to find out later that she recommended 3-year and 1.5-year prison sentences for Ms. Li and Ms. Song, respectively.

When Ms. Li and Ms. Song appeared in Rencheng District Court on July 22, 2021, judge Xu Xinguo frequently interrupted them and didn’t allow them to finish reading their defense statements.

Ms. Li was sentenced to three years with a 10,000-yuan fine and Ms. Song to one year and a half with a 5,000-yuan fine on August 13, 2021. After they appealed with the Jining City Intermediate Court, their families hired lawyers to represent them. The lawyers repeatedly requested a hearing of their appeal case, but judge Yu Jiansong of the higher court upheld their original verdicts without a hearing.

When the police went to Ms. Song’s home on November 9, 2021 to take her to the prison, she said that her blind husband relied on her for care and she couldn’t leave him alone. Officer Yu Yongbo ordered a few others to forcibly carry Ms. Song downstairs and to the police car. She failed the physical examination and was released later that day. Ms. Li, on the other hand, was taken to a quarantine facility on the next day in preparation for the imprisonment.

 

72-year-old Woman Sentenced a Third Time

For filing a complaint against a prison guard for torturing her while she was incarcerated for practicing Falun Gong, Ms. Tan Changrong was arrested in October 2018 and sentenced to three years and three months in October 2021.

Since the Chinese communist regime started persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Tan, of Chongqing, has been repeatedly targeted for upholding her faith. Prior to her latest sentencing, she was given one year of forced labor in 2001 and twice sentenced in the past—to nine years in 2005 and three years in 2015.

While serving her first term in Chongqing Women’s Prison, Ms. Tan was tortured and forced to work for over ten hours a day.

During her second term, the guards, especially Tang Anzhi, beat and verbally abused her and shocked her with an electric baton for a long time. The guards also forced Ms. Tan to squat for long hours, sexually assaulted her and didn’t allow her to use the restroom.

After Ms. Tan was released, she filed a complaint with the Chongqing Municipal Justice Department and the Prison Administration Department on September 2, 2018, describing the torture she had been subjected to in prison.

Instead of seeing justice served, Ms. Tan was arrested on October 15, 2018, and tried in the Jiangbei District Court on November 15, 2019.

The judge once met with Ms. Tan in the Jiangbei District Detention Centre. When she demanded an acquittal, the judge said he would grant her that only after Ms. Tan wrote a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She denied having done anything wrong by having a spiritual belief and refused to compromise.

After being detained for over three years, Ms. Tan was sentenced to three years and three months in October 2021. She is scheduled to be released on January 14, 2022.

 

Once Sentenced to 14 Years, Older Man Gets Another 4.5 Years for His Faith

Mr. Wang Xinmin, a 72-year-old Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province resident, was sentenced to prison, five months following his latest arrest on June 10, 2021 during a police sweep.

The authorities claimed that the purpose of the group arrest was to “maintain security” in light of the upcoming July 1 centennial celebrating the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

Mr. Wang was held at the Mudanjiang Detention Centre. The authorities refused to release him even though his high blood sugar levels were very high.

Mr. Wang appeared in the Aimin District Court on October 29. He entered a not guilty plea for himself. He was recently sentenced to 4.5 years with a 5,000 yuan fine.

This is the second time that Mr. Wang, a retired senior agronomist for the Heilongjiang Tobacco Research Institute, has been sentenced for his faith in the past two decades.

He was previously arrested on October 22, 2003, and sentenced to 14 years in Mudanjiang Prison. He developed severe pancreatitis in early 2014 and was released on medical parole in June 2014. Before he fully recovered, he was taken back to the prison on June 4, 2015, and held there until 2016.

 

 

Targeted for Speaking Out

 

Guangdong Woman Sentenced to Four Years for Speaking Up for Her Faith

Ms. Liu Jinhuan, of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, was arrested on May 18, 2020, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong and the coronavirus pandemic.

She appeared in Haizhu District Court on November 12, 2020. Prosecutor Lin Jishen accused her of placing Falun Gong informational materials on the door handles of private vehicles on the evening of May 6. But the testimony given by witness Li Xiaoqin stated that the materials were already there at 6 a.m. on May 6, which indicated that the materials found by Li weren’t distributed by Ms. Liu.

The prosecution evidence against Ms. Liu also included over 1,000 Falun Gong flyers that the police claimed to have been confiscated from her home. But the flyers never appeared on the confiscation list provided by the police, who also failed to verify the flyers with her as required by law.

Ms. Liu’s two lawyers entered a not guilty plea for her. They argued that no law criminalises Falun Gong in China. While the prosecutor accused her of “undermining law enforcement,” he failed to provide evidence to show what law’s enforcement was undermined by her and how.

The judge ignored the lawyers’ defense but repeated the prosecutor’s claim of how many items were allegedly confiscated from Ms. Liu and how many materials were distributed by her.

The judge sentenced Ms. Liu to four years with a 5,000-yuan fine on November 16, 2021.

 

 

A Falun Gong Keepsake and a Three-year Prison Sentence

Ms. Wu Lihua and Mr. Jia Zhiqiang, of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, talked to a man on the street about Falun Gong on May 29, 2021 and gave him a Falun Gong keepsake. After they parted ways, the man reported the two practitioners to the police, who arrived soon after and arrested them.

An officer from the Minzhu Police Station forced the practitioners to reveal their addresses and then ransacked their homes. Ms. Wu’s Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder, some Falun keepsakes, a laptop, and 5,000 yuan banknotes printed with information about Falun Gong were confiscated. (Due to the strict information censorship in China, many Falun Gong practitioners use creative ways to raise awareness about the persecution, including printing information on banknotes.)

The police only recorded 3,000 yuan cash on the confiscation list and never provided any explanation of where the other 2,000 yuan went. Mr. Jia, on the other hand, had two Falun Gong books taken away from his home.

Ms. Wu was put on criminal detention and held at the Harbin City No. 2 Detention Centre. The Shuangcheng District Procuratorate approved her arrest and later indicted her, accusing her of possessing the banknotes bearing Falun Gong messages.

Mr. Jia was released after 15 days at the Harbin City Lockup and cleared of prosecution.

Ms. Wu appeared in the Daoli District Court on October 30, 2021. The judge didn’t allow her family to attend the hearing. Her son was informed on November 17, 2021 that she was sentenced to three years.

 

Bedridden Woman Cured by Falun Gong, Sentenced for Distributing Materials about Her Faith

A 73-year-old woman who credits Falun Gong for enabling her to stand up after being bedridden for two years, was arrested and later sentenced to 2.5 years for telling people about her miraculous recovery. Ms. Chen Huan was allowed to serve time at home, but was recently arrested again and has been held incommunicado since.

Ms. Chen, a native of Heilongjiang Province, suffered a stroke in 2006 and was bedridden for the next two years. The doctor issued several critical condition notices for her.

Ms. Chen’s younger daughter, who worked in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, took her to Dalian to care for her. In December 2008, Ms. Chen was introduced to Falun Gong by a local resident. After three days of practicing, she got out of bed and cooked for her daughter.

Deeply grateful for Falun Gong, Ms. Chen spent much effort sharing her story with people, hoping that more people could benefit from it. She was first arrested in December 2010 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials and held at the Wanli Police Station for two days. Only after she developed high blood pressure, did the police release her.

During the pandemic in 2020, Ms. Chen was reported again in May for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was arrested by officers from the same Wanli Police Station and released in the evening.

The police later submitted Ms. Chen’s case to the procuratorate, which then indicted her and moved her case to the Pulandian Court. Although the court ordered that she be taken back into custody in late 2020, Ms. Chen was released two days later because of her health.

The court ordered Ms. Chen’s arrest again in April 2021. She was held in a metal cage for three days and developed dangerously high blood pressure. A few days after she was released, the judge sentenced Ms. Chen to 2.5 years and allowed her to serve time at home.

The police monitored Ms. Chen’s daily life. She was seized by Zhang Junchi, an officer from the Wanli Police Station, outside her daughter’s home on August 16, 2021. She has been detained incommunicado since.

 

 

Retired Teacher Gets 3.5 Years for Sharing the Health Benefits of Falun Gong

Ms. Wang Jiemei, a 60-year-old retired teacher in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, used to suffer severe cholecystitis and insomnia. As her husband also struggled with poor health, most of the house chores fell on her shoulders, leaving her constantly in a bad temper and easily irritated. Shortly after she took up Falun Gong, she regained her health. She was filled with energy and her mind was broadened.

After the coronavirus broke out in China, Ms. Wang felt compelled to share the healing power of Falun Gong to the public so that more people could benefit from it. For talking to people about Falun Gong in the nearby Shenyang City, she was reported on February 21, 2021, and arrested by officers of the Gaokan Police Station in Shenyang.

After nearly nine months at the Shenyang City No.1 Detention Centre, Ms. Wang was tried by the Economic and Technological Development Zone Court at the detention centre on October 11.

Prior to the hearing, the detention centre demanded that her lawyer and family defender submit their travel history within the past 30 days, as well as support letters from their workplaces or residential committees to verify the travel history. As the lawyer had travelled out of town for other hearings, he was also required to submit a negative molecular test of the coronavirus.

The hearing took place in a 100-square-foot visitation room with two rows of seats. Except for court clerk Duan Kexin, who sat in a chair to type the court proceedings, the presiding judge, Yang Song, a juror and a bailiff all stood during the hearing. Another two judges could only stand in the hallway. The prosecutors, Hou Yu and Wei Xiaoxue, shared a chair and took turns sitting down. And the lawyer and Ms. Wang’s family defender shared another chair. Ms. Wang remained seated behind a metal fence. Her family was barred from attending the hearing, as they were unable to get a supporting letter from the community office.

Ms. Wang’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. He said that it was unacceptable for the police to arrest her and detain her for over half a year only because she had said a few words to others. As the prosecutor charged her with the standard pretext of “undermining law enforcement,” the lawyer asked how Ms. Wang allegedly undermined enforcement of the law and what law’s enforcement was undermined.

The lawyer added that the police violated legal procedures while handling her case, including ransacking her home without a search warrant and putting down the wrong date of the arrest. The Gaokan Police Station in Shenyang had requested the Gaowan Police Station in Fushun to help search Ms. Wang’s home, but such a request had to come from the local police department, instead of between local police stations themselves. This rendered the home-ransacking of Ms. Wang invalid, and the Falun Gong-related materials confiscated from her home should not have been admitted as prosecution evidence in the first place, the lawyer said.

The lawyer also asked the judge to summon the witness to appear in court and the prosecutor to exhibit the prosecution evidence for cross-examination.

The lawyer said in his closing statement, “For an elderly woman, she told strangers about Falun Gong and wished them to be safe, despite the cold weather and the pandemic. It completely came from her compassion and kindness. If you don’t believe what she says, at least you need to respect her. Even if you don’t respect her, you can just walk away. Why do you have to arrest her and detain her for such a long time?”

After the hearing, Ms. Wang’s family also tried to urge the judges not to take part in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The judges didn’t listen and recently sentenced Ms. Wang to 3.5 years with a 10,000-yuan fine.

 

Woman Sentenced to Four Years for Pasting Couplets about Falun Gong on Her Door

Ms. Lou Yahong, a 56-year-old Xuchang City, Henan Province resident, was arrested at home on December 15, 2020, moments after she returned from grocery shopping. A group of officers broke into her home and confiscated her computer and Falun Gong books.

One officer revealed that they arrested the former accountant for the couplets she had on her door, which read, “Blessings from Heaven; Cultivating the heart for goodness, one will be blessed with happiness, longevity and health; Honoring Heaven and virtue, one will have good fortune and luck,” and, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”

The police held Ms. Lou at the Yulin Detention Centre on criminal detention, after her initial 15-day administrative detention expired.

Her lawyer submitted a legal opinion, urging the Weidu District Procuratorate not to approve her arrest. Zheng Jianye, the director of the procuratorate, ignored the lawyer’s opinion and still approved Ms. Lou’s arrest.

Since then, the prosecutor has kept Ms. Lou’s lawyer in the dark regarding the status of her case.

When the lawyer called the procuratorate in March 2021, he was told that the police hadn’t submitted the case yet. He called again on April 7, and still was told that the police were investigating the case.

A female prosecutor told the lawyer that they had just received the case earlier that day, when he called on April 22. She also said that it was fine for the lawyer to come the week after to review the case document.

When the lawyer went to the procuratorate on April 28, he was surprised to learn that the receptionist couldn’t find Ms. Lou’s case document or the record of their receiving it on the computer.

Suspecting that the prosecutor may have indicted Ms. Lou, the lawyer went to the court to inquire about her case. The court receptionist did tell him that prosecutor Zheng Jianye had indicted Ms. Lou and moved her case to the court on April 22, the day that the lawyer had called the last time.

The lawyer later learned that the police had already submitted Ms. Lou’s case to the prosecutor on March 12 and the prosecutor went to the detention centre to ask her some questions on March 18. Yet none of these instances were on file with the procuratorate and the person who answered the call kept telling the lawyer that they didn’t have her case when he called in March and on April 7.

Ms. Lou appeared in the Weidu District Court on May 26, 2021. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her and demanded her acquittal. None of her family members were allowed to attend the hearing.

The judge sentenced Ms. Lou to four years with a 3,000-yuan fine in early July 2021. She appealed the verdict, but the intermediate court ruled to uphold her original sentence.

Ms. Lou was taken to the Xinxiang Women’s Prison in early November 2021. She held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was brutally force-fed through her nose. The torture also induced persistent high blood pressure in Ms. Lou.

This isn’t the first time that Ms. Lou has been targeted for practicing Falun Gong, which she credits for curing her rheumatoid arthritis. She was previously given one year of forced labor in October 2005 and sentenced to one year in September 2017.

 

Arrested on His Birthday, Liaoning Man Sentenced to Prison

Mr. Liu Qingyu’s family was informed on November 20, 2021, that he was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison with a 10,000 yuan fine.

Mr. Liu, a Yingkou City, Liaoning Province resident, was arrested on April 12, 2021, while having lunch with his wife Ms. Zhang Chang at a restaurant to celebrate his birthday. The police had been monitoring him for a day, after he was reported the day before for distributing information about the persecution.

The police took away the couple’s keys from their car and went from door to door in his neighborhood to find his home.

While Ms. Zhang was released after 38 days at the Yingkou City Detention Centre, Mr. Liu was kept in custody at the Dashiqiao City Detention Centre.

The Zhanqian District Procuratorate indicted Mr. Liu on August 13. He was tried by the Zhanqian District Court at the detention centre on October 22, before being convicted a month later.

Prior to his latest term, Mr. Liu has been arrested multiple times. He served three labor camp terms and one year in prison, for a total of 4.5 years, simply for upholding his belief.

 

 

Liaoning Woman Sentenced for Her Faith, 86-year-old Mother Devastated

Ms. Cong Xia, of Dalian City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on May 14, 2020 while putting up informational posters about Falun Gong. When her husband came home from work, he was shocked to see his home in a mess. The Falun Gong books and printer at home were gone.

After Ms. Cong’s arrest was approved, her husband went to the local police station to inquire about her case. The police refused to reveal anything and threatened to arrest him, leaving the government employee in tremendous pressure.

Ms. Cong’s arrest also dealt a heavy blow to her 86-year-old mother, who lives by herself. She cried whenever her other children went to visit her and ended up with a toothache and an oral ulcer.

Ms. Cong’s younger brother took their mother several times to the Xigang District Domestic Security Office to demand her release but to no avail.

The police later submitted Ms. Cong’s case to the Xigang District Procuratorate. She stood trial in February 2021 and was later sentenced to four years. She appealed with the intermediate court in July, which ruled to uphold her original verdict in October.

 

Related reports:

 

• 108 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in October 2021
• 101 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in September 2021
• Ninety-one Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in August 2021
• 69 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in July 2021
• 667 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in First Half of 2021
• 96 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in May 2021
• 90 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison for Their Faith Reported in April 2021
• 100 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison for Their Faith Reported in March 2021
• 120 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in February 2021
• 186 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced for Their Faith Reported in January 2021

 

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