(Minghui.org) Five Falun Gong practitioners in Laiyang City were sentenced to prison after already serving one year of detention.
In the verdict issued by the Laiyang City Court on July 20, 2018, Ms. Qi Yuling was sentenced to 8 years and fined 10,000 yuan; Mr. Zhang Zhidong and Ms. Wu Guimei were sentenced to 7.5 years and also fined 10,000 yuan each; Ms. Liu Caihong got 2 years with a 5,000-yuan fine; and Ms. Li Guoling received 1.5 years with a 3,000-yuan fine.
All five practitioners were arrested on July 18, 2017 and tried on July 11, 2018. It was reported that the police had followed Mr. Zhang for two months before arresting him and all the practitioners he visited during those two months.
The police ransacked the practitioners' homes and confiscated many of their valuable belongings, including Mr. Zhang's personal vehicle and tricycle, and Ms. Wu's printer.
Ms. Qi has been detained at the Fushan Detention Center in Yantai since her arrest. Her father, who wasn't informed of her situation, suffered a stroke induced by growing anxiety and distress about Ms. Qi's safety.
Although Ms. Qi's father survived, he still grieved over his daughter so much that he often went alone to the entrance of the village, waiting for her to come home. Not long afterwards, he had another stroke and became bedridden and unable to take care of himself.
Over the past 19 years of persecution, Ms. Qi has been sentenced to 3 years in prison and given three terms of forced labor. Her husband divorced her during her detention.
