04/08/2003

HONG KONG (AP)--Two Hong Kong Falun Gong followers have been jailed in mainland China for possession of materials supporting the meditation group, and practitioners here said Tuesday they were campaigning for their release.

"There's no evidence they caused any damage to the society through the commission of their so-called criminal acts," said Falun Gong spokeswoman Sharon Xu. "Their materials didn't incite any people to do anything."

Businessman Suen Chung-man, 47, and security guard Cheung Yu-chong, 58, were convicted on March 26 in a district court in the border town of Shenzhen, where both had been arrested last year, Xu said.

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Suen was sentenced for four years for possession of Falun Gong VCDs at a residence he keeps in Shenzhen and for mailing 40 Falun Gong leaflets to government offices in the mainland, Xu said.

Cheung got three years after being caught by Chinese customs agents as he carried Falun Gong materials from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, Xu said.

Although Falun Gong has been outlawed in mainland China [...] and officials there are trying to eradicate the group, it remains legal in Hong Kong.