(Minghui.org) After over a year of detention, a Wuhan City, Hubei Province resident was sentenced to three years for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Liang Xiangjiao, 56, met with several practitioners at the rental apartment of Ms. Ai Xiaojiao’s sister-in-law on July 30, 2019 and studied Falun Gong teachings together. Around 7 p.m., several plainclothes officers followed Ms. Ai’s 15-year-old nephew (son of her sister-in-law) to the door and entered. The police ransacked the place and confiscated all Falun Gong-related items, before arresting every practitioner there, including Ms. Liang, Ms. Ai, Ms. Tian Taojiao, and Mr. Zheng Youqiao.
Ms. Ai’s sister-in-law, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, was also arrested after she got back home after work later that evening.
Among those arrested is Mr. Zheng, who is a relative of Ms. Liang’s. He took up Falun Gong not long ago. He has a disability in his legs and his condition improved after learning Falun Gong and he was able to take care of himself again.
The five arrested, all Wuhan residents, were sent to the Dongxihu No.1 Detention Center the next day. Except for Ms. Liang, who remained in custody, Ms. Ai’s sister-in-law was released after 5 days of detention and the other three practitioners were released 15 days later.
The Hanyang District Court was originally scheduled to hear Ms. Liang’s case at 6 p.m. on September 30, 2020, but then changed it to 3 p.m. on the same day. When her family went to the court at 3 p.m., they were told that some of the courtroom equipment was broken and the hearing had to be canceled.
The court later rescheduled Ms. Liang’s hearing to 2:30 p.m. on October 19. She was sentenced to three years not long afterwards.
This is the second time that Ms. Liang has been sentenced for her faith by the same court. She has previously served one year in a labor camp and five years in prison.
Related report:
Hubei Resident Faces Trial for Her Faith by the Same Court That Sentenced Her Before
