(Minghui.org) A teacher in Anshun City, Guizhou Province was sentenced to 12 years for talking to her student about Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline with the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Feng Peirong, 55, worked at the tutoring school owned by her family. Her nephew also attended her classes. As her nephew lived with her, she often talked to him about Falun Gong’s principles and advised him to be a good person. The young boy then shared what he learned with another student in the class.

It turned out that that student’s father is a police officer. When that student talked to his father about Falun Gong, he reported Ms. Feng.

Eighteen officers broke into Ms. Feng’s home and the tutoring school she worked at on December 4, 2018. Her computer and cellphone were confiscated. The police also seized all the cash they could find, as well as her students’ profiles and the school's financial documents. The school was also shut down by the police.

Ms. Feng’s husband and son were held in custody for one day and released on December 5. On the same day, Ms. Feng experienced a medical condition with her lung and was sent to the police hospital.

After the police submitted her case to Xixiu District Procuratorate, her family hired two lawyers to represent her. With the lawyers’ efforts, the procuratorate returned her case back to the police due to insufficient evidence.

The police then forced Ms. Feng's 26 students to provide testimonies against her, accusing her of using the tutoring school to “brainwash” and “poison” the students.

After the police submitted Ms. Feng’s case to the prosecutor for the second time, the prosecutor soon indicted her and moved her case to Xixiu District Court.

The lawyers demanded that all 26 students appear in court to accept cross examination, but the prosecutor rejected the proposal. In the end, the judge ordered a few students to appear in court to testify.

Ms. Feng was tried by Xixiu District Court in November 2019. The handful of her students who appeared in court were very scared. They were so nervous that they were unable to talk and kept shaking.

The judge handed down a 12-year sentence for Ms. Feng on December 17, 2019. She is appealing the verdict with Anshun City Intermediate Court.