Two Women in Hebei Province Sentenced to Prison for Distributing Falun Gong Materials

(Minghui.org) Two women in Zhengding County, Hebei Province, were sentenced on August 3, 2022, for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhang Yanqin and Ms. Nie Meifeng were arrested on January 3, 2022, after they were reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong in a residential area. The police raided their homes, confiscating Ms. Nie’s media player and breaking Ms. Zhang’s computer.

The two women appeared in court on August 3. Ms. Nie was sentenced to three years and Ms. Zhang was given four years. The judge said that he gave Ms. Zhang a heavier sentence, because she was a repeat offender, having been incarcerated for practicing Falun Gong before. Both women are currently in the Shijiazhuang City No.2 Detention Center.

Ms. Nie, 59, is retired from the Zhengding County Cultural Heritage and Tourism Bureau. Prior to her latest arrest and sentencing, she was harassed several times by officials of the bureau and ordered to renounce Falun Gong.

She was first called in early July 2020 and ordered to go to the bureau. When she didn’t go, the officials, secretary Diao Huaisheng and deputy director Jia Yong, went to her home on July 15 and tried to force her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. They threatened to suspend her pension if she refused to comply.

Kou Haining, the bureau director, and three other officials, including Wei Wenping, Fang Shuhui, and Jia, went to Ms. Nie’s home again on August 13, still trying to pressure her to renounce Falun Gong. She refused to. The officials revealed that the order to “transform” her came from Gao Wenlu, the director of the Zhengding County Political and Legal Affairs Committee.

Officials Wei and Jia went to Ms. Nie’s home for a third time on August 27, still pressuring her to sign the statement. They warned her that, if she didn’t comply, the police would arrest her. She tried to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to them and urge them not to participate in the persecution but to no avail.