(Minghui.org) At least 17 residents of Shenze County, Hebei Province were arrested between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. on January 11, 2022 for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. The police did not show any IDs or search warrants during the operation.

Most of these practitioners had black hoods put over their heads and taken to a hotel, where they were held and interrogated for up to 16 days before being transferred to various local detention facilities. The hotel was not an official detention facility, yet the police told the practitioners’ families that their loved ones were put under house arrest in the hotel, an act in violation of the law.

The Minghui.org website has previously confirmed that nine of the practitioners were sentenced to prison on June 9, 2023 after a court hearing earlier in the year, on April 4.

Ms. He Hongyan was sentenced to five years and fined 40,000 yuan;Ms. Liu Xiaomiao, 76, Ms. Jiao Yaqin, and Mr. Du Guofang, 52, were each sentenced to three years and fined 30,000 yuan;Ms. Liu Yuru, 55, was sentenced to two and a half years with a 25,000-yuan fine;Ms. Tian Xuan was sentenced to two years and fined 20,000 yuan;Ms. Ma Tongxin and Mr. Liu Chengwu were each sentenced to one year and ten months with a 15,000-yuan fine.The exact prison term of Ms. Zhang Huixin, 71, remains under investigation.

It was recently learned that Ms. He, Ms. Liu, Ms. Jiao, Mr. Du, and Mr. Liu filed appeals against their wrongful convictions not long after their sentencing. The Shijiazhuang City Intermediate Court formally accepted their appeal cases on July 10. The five practitioners’ lawyers and family defenders reviewed their case documents on August 10. By law, the intermediate court should issue a ruling within two months of case registration, which means it has until September 10 to make a decision. 

Related Reports:

Shenze County, Hebei Province: One More Arrested in Midnight Police Sweep Confirmed to Have Been Sentenced to Prison

Shenze County, Hebei Province: 17 Arrested in One Night, Eight of Them Sentenced One and a Half Years Later

Eleven Falun Gong Practitioners Detained in Shijiazhuang Second Detention Center, Two in Critical Condition

Woman Detained in Secret Location After Police Show up in Her Bedroom at Midnight

Seven Targeted in a Midnight Police Sweep Detained for Nearly Two Months