(Minghui.org) Two Zibo City, Shandong Province residents were sentenced to seven years in prison in July 2021 for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. The authorities pressured their family members and didn’t allow them to appeal the verdicts.
Ms. Wang Li and Ms. Cui Hongwei, both in their 50s, were arrested on November 11, 2020. Two other practitioners Mr. Bao Yirang and Ms. Liu Cuiying, in their 70s, were arrested with them but were released the next day due to failing to pass the physical exam. Ms. Wang and Ms. Cui were taken to the Zibo City Detention Center.
Ms. Wang and Ms. Cui stood trial at the Zichuan District Court in May 2021. During their sentencing hearing in July, both indicated that they would appeal the verdicts, but the authorities didn’t allow them to.
This is the third time that Ms. Wang has been incarcerated for her faith. She was previously given two years of forced labor in 2001 and sentenced to four years in 2010.
One month before Ms. Wang and Ms. Cui’s sentencing, another four Zibo residents were also sentenced for practicing Falun Gong. Mr. Wang Zhongshi was sentenced to eight years with a 40,000-yuan fine, Ms. Gao Mingjie to four years with a 20,000-yuan fine, Mr. Qu Kean to one year, and Mr. Wang Xitian to ten months. Mr. Wang Zhongshi and Ms. Gao appealed the verdicts, but they were rejected by the Zibo City Intermediate Court.
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