(Minghui.org) A woman in Hebei Province was recently handed a 3.5-year sentence for distributing informational materials about her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Wen Yulan became the fifth Falun Gong practitioner sentenced to jail by Changli County Court this year.
Prior to Ms. Wen's case, the court has sentenced Mr. Gao Jian to three years and four months and Ms. Li Xiuzhi to three years in February, Ms. Yang Jinmei to five years in March, and Ms. Wu Chunhuan to one year and eight months in June.
Ms. Wen Yulan was arrested on March 20, 2018 together with her younger sister, Ms. Wen Yuxia for distributing Falun Gong related materials.
Although the younger Ms. Wen was released on April 6 after two weeks of detention, the older Ms. Wen has been kept in custody at Qinhuangdao Detention Center since then.
The police submitted her case to the procuratorate with the excuse that she had been arrested and detained several times in the past few months.
Changli County Court held a hearing of Ms. Wen on August 16, 2018. The presiding judge deceived her family into using a court-appointed lawyer, whom he instructed to plead guilty for Ms. Wen.
The judge promised to give Ms. Wen a lighter sentence or no sentence at all if she pleaded guilty. Her daughter believed the judge and blocked her aunt, Ms. Wen Yuxia, from attending the hearing.
The judge went through the formality of the hearing in 40 minutes and ended it without announcing the verdict.
Three weeks later, Ms. Wen received the sentence of 3.5 years on September 6.
