(Minghui.org) Six residents of Liuhe County were sentenced to prison for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

The two men and four women were arrested on July 16, 2016 and tried together on March 24, 2017. The Liuhe County Court announced the following guilty verdicts against them on June 20:

Ms. Yang Jing, 53, was sentenced to 4.5 years and fined 5,000 yuan.

Mr. Zhang Jinghe, 70, was sentenced to 4 years and fined 4,000 yuan.

Mr. Sun Qunying, 62, was sentenced to 3.5 years and fined 3,000 yuan.

Ms. Liu Changchun, 66, Ms. Zhang Guixiang, 64, and Ms. Du Rongjuan, 57, were each sentenced to 2.5 years and fined 2,000 yuan.

Ms. Yang and Ms. Liu remain at Tonghua City Detention Center following their arrest, while the other four practitioners were released on bail shortly after their arrest. It is unknown when these practitioners will be transferred to prison.