(Minghui.org) Three Chongqing Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested by the police from Zhoukou City, Henan Province between July and October 2020 were recently sentenced to prison terms of three to five years by a court in Zhoukou. A fourth Chongqing practitioner was also sentenced to prison in Zhoukou, though details of her term remain unclear.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Han Weifang, 75, and Ms. Yuan Rong, 66, were sentenced to five years. Ms. Wang Daiqing, around 50, was given three years.
The three practitioners’ ordeal started when police from Zhoukou traveled 700 miles to Chongqing and arrested the fourth practitioner, Ms. Yu Xiurong, on December 31, 2019.
It was reported that Ms. Yu was targeted because she published information about Falun Gong on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging website.
A few more practitioners whom the police suspected of raising awareness of Falun Gong online or exposing the persecution on the Minghui.org website were also arrested, including Ms. Han and Ms. Wang, who were arrested on July 1, 2020 and Ms. Yuan, who was arrested on October 24, 2020.
The practitioners were taken to Henan and held in the Zhoukou City Detention Center. When Ms. Han and Ms. Wang’s lawyers submitted their legal opinions and demanded the practitioners’ release, the police intimidated them and said they suspected the lawyers to be friends of Falun Gong.
The police later submitted the practitioners’ cases to the Chuanhui District Procuratorate, which then indicted them and moved their case to the Chuanhui District Court.
Ms. Han, Ms. Wang, and Ms. Yuan made two court appearances, on January 14 and April 29, 2021, respectively, and were convicted in June. It was reported that Ms. Yu has also been sentenced, but details about her trial and prison term remain unclear at the time of this writing.
In addition to the above-mentioned four practitioners, a fifth practitioner, Ms. Yu Hong, 66, was arrested in Chongqing on October 25, 2020, after the police suspected her of exposing Ms. Yu Xiurong’s arrest on the Minghui website.
Ms. Yu Hong’s mother, who is in her 90s, was bedridden and incontinent. She relied heavily on Ms. Yu for care. After Ms. Yu was arrested and detained at the Chongqing City Detention Center, her mother was transferred to a senior center. Her health quickly declined and she passed away on February 11, 2021, on the eve of the Chinese New Year.
A sixth practitioner in Chongqing, Ms. He Hong, was also arrested by the Zhoukou police on November 23, 2020. Due to high blood pressure, she was released on bail a week later.
Related report:
Henan Police Arrest Falun Gong Practitioners in Other Provinces for Raising Awareness of Persecution
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Category: Accounts of Persecution
