(Minghui.org) Three Dalian City residents were given heavy prison sentences for distributing materials to expose the Chinese communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong, a mind-body practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

The Dalian City Intermediate Court ruled months later to reject the three Falun Gong practitioners' appeals without holding a hearing.

Mr. Zhang Renguang, 62, was sentenced to 9.5 years and fined 20,000 yuan; Mr. Wang Shangjie, 60, and Mr. Han Jianhai, 51, were sentenced to 8 years and fined with 10,000 yuan each. All three were taken to Liaonan Prison on September 6, 2018 to serve their terms after the intermediate court's ruling.

A fourth practitioner, Mr. Li Jingbo, who was arrested and tried at the same time as the above three, was sentenced to three years with three years of probation and fined 2,000 yuan. He didn't appeal his sentence and is now placed under house arrest.

The four practitioners were arrested on June 11, 2017 while distributing Falun Gong informational materials in a residential area. Police ransacked their homes and confiscated Falun Gong related materials. They were detained at Yaojia Detention Center for almost a year before being sentenced by Shahekou District Court on May 30, 2018.