(Minghui.org) Four months after a district court rejected her case due to lack of evidence, Ms. Liang Yunying was sentenced to five years in the People's Intermediate Court of Nanyang City.

Ms. Liang, 70, is retired from Nanyang Oil Field. She was arrested on February 18, 2016, for telling people about the persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that has been banned by the Communist government.

She was initially tried on June 1, 2016, without her family or lawyers being notified. After much effort on the part of her family and attorneys, Wanchen District Court held a second public hearing on August 26, 2016.

Ms. Liang's lawyers argued that practicing Falun Gong was legal and that giving out Falun Gong material was not against the law. After the hearing, the court returned Ms. Liang's case to the Procuratorate and local police department due to lack of evidence. According to legal procedure, she should have been released.

The Nanyang City 610 Office intervened, however, and instructed the Intermediate Court to override the district court’s decision. Ms. Liang was sentenced to five years in December 2016.

Ms. Liang is appealing her sentence.

Related Article:Lawyer Tells Judges: Don’t Become Jiang Zemin’s Scapegoat