(Minghui.org) After more than a year of detention, eight Falun Gong practitioners in Yinchuan City, Ningxia Province were sentenced to prison for their faith, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The eight practitioners were among the thirteen local practitioners arrested on September 19, 2019 for their faith. Four of the thirteen practitioners were later released, but nine remained in custody.
One of the detained practitioners, Mr. Xie Nanfang, 64, died on February 28, 2020 at the Yinchuan City Detention Center. Mr. Ren Chuntian, 85 and one of the four who were released, died on June 2, 2020, after being terrified by the continued harassment after he came home.
The remaining eight practitioners were tried by the Xixia District Court on July 27 and 28, 2020. Eight lawyers entered not guilty pleas for them.
The judge announced the verdicts on December 25, 2020:
Ms. Na Qin was sentenced to 5.5 years with a 35,000 yuan fine;Ms. Zhu Haiyan, Ms. Sun Fanghong, and Ms. Jiang Chunmei were sentenced to 5 years with a 30,000 yuan fine each;Ms. Sun Fanghui and Ms. Chen Bo were sentenced to 4 years with a 25,000 yuan fine each;Ms. Xiao Yanzhi was sentenced to 3 years with a 20,000 yuan fine;Ms. Wang Xiuhua was sentenced to 2 years with a 15,000 yuan fine.
Past Persecution of Ms. Zhu Haiyan
Ms. Zhu, 44, used to work at the environmental monitoring center in Yongning County, Yinchuan City. She took up Falun Gong in late 1998. After the communist regime ordered the persecution a year later, she was arrested and incarcerated multiple times for upholding her faith.
In October 2000, Ms. Zhu Haiyan and her husband, Mr. Jiang Tao, brought their one-year-old son to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. They were arrested and taken back to Yinchuan. After a few months of detention at the Yongning County Detention Center, she was given two years of forced labor at Ningxia Women’s Forced Labor Camp. Mr. Jiang was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.
While Ms. Zhu was released ahead of time, she was arrested again on February 4, 2002 and detained for two weeks.
Ms. Zhu was arrested again in April 2005 and sentenced to three years in March 2006. At the Ningxia Women’s Prison, she was forced to make clothes, often working from early morning to 10 p.m. or midnight.
On the day of her scheduled release, April 20, 2008, instead of allowing her to go home, the authorities took her to a brainwashing center and held her there for another 41 days.
Her husband, Mr. Jiang, was arrested together with her in September 2019, but was later released.
Related reports:
Thirteen Arrested for Practicing Falun Gong in One Day – Two Have Died and Eight Put on Trial
Yinchuan City, Ningxia: 13 Arrested in One Day, 9 Face Prosecution
Former Middle School Arts Teacher Recounts 12 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment
