(Minghui.org) Two Maanshan City, Anhui Province, residents were sentenced for spreading information about Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Wu Hengyi, a water company employee in his 50s, went missing in May 2021. His family learned only later on that he had been arrested. His arrest left his wife, who has a mental disorder and relies on him for care, in distress.

Another practitioner, Ms. Liu Xia, 78, was arrested at home on August 3, 2021. Her Falun Gong materials were confiscated. She was interrogated in the Huashan Police Station and refused to sign her case document. The police forced her son to sign on her behalf and also forced her to fingerprint the document. She was released that afternoon and put under residential surveillance.

After her case was moved to the Huashan District Court, the police took Ms. Liu to a detention center but had to release her on bail after she developed high blood pressure and a heart condition.

Ms. Liu and Mr. Wu appeared in the Huashan District Court on October 16, 2021. Ms. Liu was accused of providing Falun Gong informational materials to Mr. Wu and sentenced to one year and two months with a 6,000-yuan fine. Mr. Wu was given two years and six months for distributing the materials.