(Minghui.org) Three residents of Suining City, Sichuan Province, were sentenced to prison on March 18, 2024, for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Du Yingfen, 70, was sentenced to one year and eight months with a 5,000 yuan fine. Ms. Deng Xiugui, 72, was given one year and two months and fined 3,000 yuan. Ms. Yang Guihua, 67, received one year with a 2,000-yuan fine.
All three practitioners had been out on bail before their sentencing. Ms. Yang was taken to a detention center right after the sentencing hearing, and Ms. Deng and Ms. Du were allowed to go home due to health reasons.
Arrested in December 2022 and Indicted in May 2023
The three women’s sentencing stemmed from their initial arrests on December 5, 2022. The police released them on bail that night and later submitted their joint case to the Chuanshan District Procuratorate.
While walking on the street together on May 17, 2023, the three women were stopped by Wang Huan from the Chuanshan District Domestic Security Division. He handed them over to the Kaixuan Road Police Station, which then dispatched officer Ding Kai (badge number 102241) to drive them to the Chuanshan District Procuratorate.
They were each ordered to sign a form. Only then did they realize they had been indicted by prosecutor Tian Guangrong (+86-825-2381237) and his assistant Luo Dan (+86-825-2381233). The indictment form stated that the three practitioners were “criminal suspects.” As no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, they refused to sign the form.
Sentenced in March 2024
The Chuanshan District Court held a hearing on November 15, 2023, and appointed a lawyer for each of the three practitioners. As the lawyers were instructed to enter guilty pleas for them, they declined to use the lawyers.
Presiding judge Zhu Li, along with assistant judges Li Mao and Liao Diying, allowed the three practitioners to remain on bail after the hearing but ordered them be taken back into custody on December 29, 2023. Office Ding, along with a few other officers and two community workers, seized the three women that day and took them to the Yongxing Detention Center. They failed the required physical examination and were let go home.
Judge Zhu held a sentencing hearing on March 18, 2024, and convicted all three practitioners.
Related Reports:
Three Sichuan Women Indicted for Practicing Falun Gong, On Bail Awaiting Trial
Suining City, Sichuan Province: Four Elderly Women Arrested in One Day for Practicing Falun Gong
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