(Minghui.org) Six residents in Chengdu City were sentenced to prison for studying a book together.
Ms. Li Xiaoping and her nine guests were arrested on July 23, 2016 while reading a book of Falun Gong, a mind-body practice being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
While four of the Falun Gong practitioners were later released on bail, Ms. Li, Mr. Xu Yong, Ms. Liu Shuling, Ms. Zhou Ziyu, Mr. Lu Youqun, and Ms. Zhang Minghong have remained in detention. Ms. Li, 67, has developed high blood pressure and chronic coughs during her detention.
The six practitioners appeared in Wuhou District Court on May 24, 2018. Three of them hired lawyers, but the lawyers were pressured into entering guilty pleas for them. The local authorities didn't inform the practitioners' families until two days before the hearing. Altogether only a couple of family members attended the trial, and they said the presiding judge didn't allow the practitioners to testify in their own defense.
All six practitioners were convicted by the end of the hearing.
Ms. Zhang was given 7 years and fined 10,000 yuan.
Ms. Li, Mr. Xu and Ms. Liu were each given 3.5 years and fined 5,000 yuan.
Ms. Zhou and Mr. Lu were each given 3 years and fined 5,000 yuan.
Related Article in Chinese:成都市李小平等被非法关押近一年
