(Minghui.org) Two residents from Weining County, Guizhou Province were recently sentenced to prison for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the communist regime for 20 years.
Ms. Zhu Jiacai, in her 50s, was sentenced to 10 years and fined 20,000 yuan. Ms. Luo Cuiqin, in her 60s, received 5 years and fined 10,000 yuan. Both women have appealed the verdicts to Bijie City Intermediate Court.
Ms. Zhu and Ms. Luo were arrested on October 16, 2017 after being reported to the police for distributing Falun Gong materials in Hezhang County on August 13, 2017.
The police ransacked both of their homes and confiscated their Falun Gong materials, as well as Ms. Zhu's bank deposit certificates and a recently received medical compensation from a major accident that her son had many years before.
A third woman, Ms. Xu Yanfei, who distributed the materials with them, was also arrested that day.
The three women were taken to Jinsha County Detention Center, and their cases were forwarded to Bijie Procuratorate in early 2018.
Ms. Zhu and Ms. Luo were tried by Qixingguan District Court on November 27, 2018. No prosecution witnesses appeared in court to be cross-examined.
Both women pleaded not guilty for distributing the materials. They also pointed out that the prosecutor displayed a different kind of pamphlet from the actual one they distributed and that they distributed far fewer than the prosecutor alleged.
Their lawyers argued that distributing the materials didn't cause harm to anyone. They also argued that the resolution of surveillance video provided by the police was so low that it was impossible to confirm whether the people shown distributing materials were their clients.
The third practitioner, Ms. Xu, was tried in the same court on the next day. The court-appointed lawyer entered a guilty plea for her against her will.
It's unknown whether Ms. Xu has been sentenced.
Previous report:
Three Guizhou Women Tried for Distributing Information about the Persecution of Falun Gong
