(Minghui.org) Four Zibo City, Shandong Province residents were recently sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
After Mr. Wang Zhongshi was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials on February 19, 2020, the police began to monitor his daily activities and collect information about practitioners he had contact with. A group arrest ensued months later, with over 50 practitioners, including Mr. Wang, seized at 6 a.m. on November 11, 2020. The officers ransacked their homes and confiscated Falun Gong books, printers, computers and other personal items.
Although most practitioners were released the next day, Mr. Wang Zhongshi, Mr. Qu Kean, Ms. Gao Mingjie, and Mr. Wang Xitian remained in custody.
It’s been recently confirmed by Minghui.org that Mr. Wang Zhongshi was sentenced to eight years with a 40,000-yuan fine, Ms. Gao to four years with a 20,000-yuan fine, Mr. Qu to one year, and Mr. Wang Xitian to ten months, in June 2021.
Mr. Wang Zhongshi and Ms. Gao appealed the verdicts, but the intermediate court has ruled to uphold the sentences.
Mr. Wang Xitian was first held at the Boshan District Detention Center and then taken to the Zichuan District Detention Center. He was released on September 10.
Mr. Wang Zhongshi’s latest arrest came about one and a half years after he was released from serving a ten-year term at the Shandong Province Prison. He was held in solitary confinement between August 2014 and 2017 and monitored by the inmates around the clock, as the guards attempted to force him to renounce Falun Gong. After he was released on May 16, 2019, the cement factory he worked at wiped out all of his past service and refused to make any pension payments.
Mr. Qu, 67, served three years at Qiugu Forced Labor Camp between 2001 and 2003. He was subjected to constant harassment after being released. He was arrested again on July 22, 2012 and later sentenced to prison.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Yin Dacheng (尹大澄), head of Boshan District Domestic Security Office: +86-17805333575Li Li (李莉), Boshan Procuratorate: +86-533-3011480
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