(Clearwisdom.net) On June 22, 2007, Falun Gong practitioners from Fangshan District, Beijing City, were secretly sentenced to prison. The practitioners included: Ms. Su Xiurong, Mr. Zhang Jiguo, Mr. Shi Bo, Ms. Song Guizhen, Mr. Hu Huanting and Mr. Wu Guoming; all of whom were sentenced between three and five-and-a-half years.

The police took the practitioners into custody at the end of March 2006. Since then, the police have not allowed their families to see them, shown any related legal documents, nor informed the family members of their sentences. Staff members from the Fangshan District Court cajoled the families of several practitioners into paying 10,000 yuan for the release of the practitioners. However, after the payments were received, the practitioners were sentenced instead of released, and the money has not been returned.

Before they were sentenced, they were detained in the Chaoyang District No. 2 Prison. During their detention, some foreign correspondents visited various Chinese prisons to investigate and gather information. To conceal the persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners, the No. 2 Prison's authorities transferred the detained practitioners to the isolation cells reserved for convicts with death sentences. The practitioners' families have gone to the prison many times to try and visit the practitioners, but each time, their visitation requests have been denied. Later the practitioners were transferred to Fangshan City Detention Center and have been detained there for the last fifteen months.

It is reported that both practitioners Ms. Liu Yuxiang (who has had symptoms of serious hypertension, lower back pain and has had difficulty walking upright during detention) and Ms. Kui Shuyue were sentenced to forced labor for about 2 years. Also, many female practitioners over the age of 50 had symptoms of serious hypertension while detained in the Fangshan District Detention Center, but were still sentenced to forced labor. Currently, they are detained in the Daxing Women's Prison.

We appeal to all people to help us seek justice and stop the persecution.

July 02, 2007