(Minghui.org) Communist officials from the Mei County Court in Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, illegally sentenced four Falun Gong practitioners to prison. Mr. Bu Weiquan was sentenced to five years, Mr. Zeng Hengtao to four years, Ms. Huang Yinying and Ms. Yang Lixia to two years each. All four plan to appeal the unlawful verdict.

Mr. Bu, nearly 50 years old, is a project manager at the Meizhou City Hongyi Construction Company. He is married to Ms.Yang. Mr. Zeng, in his late 40s, is an employee of the Meizhou City Nanlong Company. Ms. Huang is a retiree who worked for Meizhou City Huaxi Construction Design Company.

The four practitioners were arrested on the evening of November 4, 2012, in Xingning, a county-level city of Meizhou. Mr. Bu's car was confiscated at the scene. Officers also broke into and ransacked the homes of the practitioners. The Meizhou Procuratorate approved the arrest warrant on December 12, 2008.

The police collaborated with the Procuratorate to put the practitioners on trial. The trial was held at the Mei County Court on the morning of January 29, 2013.

Ms. Huang's lawyer from Beijing provided a strong defense, noting that the evidence provided by the prosecuting side was full of gaps. For example, the so-called electronic “evidence” from Mr. Bu's computer submitted by the prosecutor had been appraised only by local authorities in Meizhou City. By law, such material must be appraised by the provincial-level experts. As this was not done, this “evidence” could not be admitted in court.

In addition, the photos submitted as evidence had not been taken at the scene of the arrest. Instead, the police showed pictures of banners with Falun Gong-related information from various other locations. They claimed that the practitioners had put up those banners. However, the defense attorney argued that the police officers had actually hung up those banners themselves to fabricate the evidence.

Facing strong factual defense, the prosecutor and officials of the court could not provide an adequate response.

Ms. Huang stated that it was only through practicing Falun Gong that her health improved. Thus, she wanted to tell more people about the benefits of the practice. Since her arrest, however, her health has declined; she has lost consciousness more than once in detention for unknown reasons. Ms. Yang mentioned that her memory and mental clarity have also greatly declined in detention, and she now has trouble remembering things.

All practitioners entered a non-guilty plea. However, they were still sentenced to prison.