(Minghui.org) Three Chengdu City, Sichuan Province residents were sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Deng Weiyong and his wife, Ms. Li Xiuying were sentenced to 4 and 2.5 years, respectively. They have appealed the verdicts. The third practitioner, Ms. Li Zhijie (no relation to Ms. Li Xiuying), 76, was given 4.5 years.
Ms. Li Zhijie appeared in Jinjiang District Court on December 6 and Mr. Deng and his wife on December 26.
Mr. Deng and his wife were arrested on May 5, 2018. The police ransacked their home and confiscated their Falun Gong books, computer and related materials.
They were first held at Xinjin Brainwashing Center and then transferred to Pi County Detention Center. The couple was charged with “attempting to subvert state power” and denied meetings with their lawyer.
Prior to Mr. Deng’s latest arrest, the police harassed him several times in May 2017 and threatened him to not distribute informational materials about Falun Gong. The police also arranged people to monitor him and cut off the power at his home in order to intimidate him.
Ms. Li Zhijie was arrested on May 10, 2018. The police opened her door with a key copied from her earlier and confiscated her Falun Gong related materials without a search warrant.
When Ms. Li’s family went to the police station to demand her release and argued that there was no legal basis for the persecution, the police said the government has made a decision about it and there was no room to discuss it.