(Minghui.org) Ms. Tang Minghai was sentenced to four years of imprisonment last December for “using a cult organization to sabotage law enforcement,” a charge regularly used by the Communist Party-controlled judicial system to sentence Falun Gong practitioners.

The 66-year-old woman from Luzhou City appealed her sentence, and Luzhou Intermediate Court held hearings on March 20 and 27, 2015.

Ms. Tang's lawyers pointed out that there has never been any legal basis for the persecution of Falun Gong, and that their client was merely exercising her constitutionally protected freedom of belief to practice and spread information about Falun Gong.

The judge couldn't articulate how Ms. Tang had allegedly undermined law enforcement by distributing DVDs bearing information about the persecution of Falun Gong. He, however, refused to acquit her.

He issued a decision one week later, upholding Mr. Tang's sentence, making her the third practitioner whose sentence had been upheld by the same court since last November.

Prior to Ms. Tang's hearings, Mr. Li Yanjun and Ms. Yang Taiying had been sentenced to 4 and 4.5 years, respectively, for their belief in Falun Gong.

Related reports:66-Year-Old Woman Arrested , Has Blood Taken and Tried Without Family's KnowledgeLuzhou, Sichuan Province: Courts Show Total Disregard for the Law in the Prosecution of Law-abiding Falun Gong Practitioners