(Minghui.org) Ms. Cao Qianrong and Ms. Huang Lingyun in Jinsha County, Guizhou Province were sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Both were sent to the Guizhou Province No. 1 Women's Prison, also known as Yangai Prison.
Ms. Cao (age 73) was a teacher and the director of academics at the Jinsha County No. 3 Elementary School. In early March 2016, a team of police officers went to her home and ransacked it. They seized her Dafa books, informational materials, and some other personal belongings. They took Ms. Cao into custody but released her in 24 hours.
The police went to her home again with an arrest warrant in July 2016. They took her to the Jinsha County Detention Center. The court notified her family in May 2017 that she had been sentenced to four years in prison.
Ms. Cao has been repeatedly persecuted for her faith. She was held in Jinsha County Detention Center three times between 2003 and 2007 for periods ranging from 15 days to over 40 days. Between 2012 and 2014, she was held in Renhuai County Detention Center and then sentenced to prison.
Ms. Huang is in her 50s and worked at the Jinsha County Winery. Domestic security police of Jinsha County, officers from Chengdong Police Station, and agents from the Chengdong Community swarmed into her home in March 2016. They seized a computer, a printer, Dafa books, and Dafa informational materials. They took her into custody and detained her for a week.
When the police asked Ms. Huang to come to the police station to retrieve her belongings, they arrested her and held her in the Jinsha County Detention Center. Her family was notified in May 2017 that she had been sentenced to two years in prison. Ms. Huang appealed to the Intermediate Court in the Bijie area and was re-sentenced to one and a half years.
Ms. Haung was previously arrested and detained at the Jinsha County Drug Rehabilitation Center for 15 days, also for practicing Falun Gong.