AFP News, Febuary 1, 2000
HONG KONG, Feb 1 (AFP) - China has jailed 32 members of the Falungong spiritual movement for between four months and seven years in a crackdown ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, a rights group said Tuesday.
The 32 followers of the banned group were sentenced in two separate trials in Beijing on January 28, said the Hong Kong-based Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China.
The centre added that up to 300 members of the group were expected to be tried and sentenced in secret trials before the holiday period begins on February 5.
The report said two sisters -- Li Xiao Bing and Li Xiao Mei --were convicted of "illegal trade" for using their Beijing video store to push Falungong literature and films.
Li Xiao Bing was jailed for six years and her sister for seven years after a day-long trial at Beijing's Eastern Intermediate People's Court amid intense security, said the centre quoting family members.
The pair were accused of being two of the main leaders of the movement in the capital, and were alleged to have sold 1.8 million Falungong books through their store.
In a second trial at the same court on January 28, 30 Falungong members were sentenced to between four months and two years for carrying out protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, said the centre.
It said 16 of them were from the northeast province of Liaoning and 14 were from Beijing, and that they were charged with "sabotaging the implementation of the law".
Since the spiritual group, which practices breathing exercises and traditional meditation, was banned last July thousands of followers have flocked to Tiananmen to hold silent protests.
The centre said around 100 Falungong members had been detained in the square this year alone.
Questioned by AFP, Beijing court officials declined to confirm or deny the trials took place.
The centre said the trials were part of a campaign ahead of the holiday period, and that up to 300 members of the group would be jailed this week.
Centre spokesman Frank Lu said it was very difficult to know exactly how many Falungong members would face trials as the authorities were going to great lengths to keep them secret and had told family members not to publicize proceedings.
He estimated that so far around 5,000 Falungong members had been sentenced to "re-education through labour" camps.
China banned the group after calling it a dangerous sect and the biggest threat to political stability since the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests.
The group boasts tens of millions of followers in China, while the central government has admitted that some 35,000 followers were rounded up by police between July and November for attempting to protest the ban.
Scores of Falungong leaders have been arrested and sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 years.
Minghui Editor's Comments:
Nowadays, anyone who were involved in the sale of Falun Gong material before could be accused of "illegal trade". The prosecutors can do whatever they want as long as it can serve the political purpose.
Category: Falun Dafa in the Media
