Seven Guangdong Residents Sentenced to Prison Between Late 2020 and August 2021

(Minghui.org) The Minghui.org website recently confirmed that seven residents of Guangdong Province, including a 75-year-old woman, were sentenced between late 2020 and August 2021 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Ye Shaocheng, Ms. Shi Meiqin, and Mr. Chen Jianguo

Mr. Ye Shaocheng, 42, was arrested on February 2, 2020, after the police spotted him through surveillance video putting up informational materials about Falun Gong in Haicheng Town, Haifeng County. Ms. Shi Meiqin, 49, and Mr. Chen Jianguo, 68, were arrested the next day.

The three Haifeng County residents were first given 15 days of administrative detention by the Haifeng County Police Department and then placed in criminal detention on February 18. Their arrests were approved on March 24.

The Shanwei City Court sentenced the three practitioners to prison in late 2020. Ms. Shi was sentenced to four years with a 10,000 yuan fine. Mr. Ye was given two years with a 2,000 yuan fine. Mr. Chen was sentenced to one year and also fined 2,000 yuan. All three appealed the verdicts. The Shanwei City Intermediate Court ruled to uphold the original verdicts on March 28, 2021.

Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Shi had previously been sentenced to 3.5 years on October 9, 2012 and released in July 2015.

Ms. Yuan Yumei

Ms. Yuan Yumei, a 53-year-old resident of Xingning City, was arrested on July 25, 2020, after being reported by several students for giving them materials about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home in the afternoon and put her in criminal detention the next day. Her arrest was approved on August 28. The Mei County District Court sentenced her to five years with a 50,000 yuan fine in late 2020. She appealed to the Meizhou City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original sentence on March 1, 2021.

Ms. Yuan has been repeatedly targeted since the onset of the persecution. She was given two and three years of forced labor in April 2001 and July 2003, respectively. She was arrested again in December 2012 and detained for 15 days.

Ms. Qiu Renying and Ms. Qiu Yuanxiang

Ms. Qiu Renying, 61, and her younger sister, Ms. Qiu Yuanxiang, 54, of Xingning City, were arrested on September 8, 2020, after the police found them distributing Falun Gong materials between April and July 2020 through surveillance video. The Yuancheng District Court in the nearby Heyuan City sentenced both of them to 2.5 years with a 2,000 yuan fine on April 29, 2021. They were taken to the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison on October 30, 2021. Both sisters had previously served one year of forced labor each in July 2008.

Ms. Huang Xiangui

Ms. Huang Xiangui, a 75-year-old Lechang City resident, was arrested in early April 2020 for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was released on bail on December 3, 2020.

To seek justice for herself, Ms. Huang mailed documents to the Lechang City Procuratorate about the illegality of the persecution, which was then used as prosecution evidence against her. Her arrest was approved on April 6, 2021. The Lechang City Court sentenced her to five years with a 10,000 yuan fine in late August. She appealed to the Shaoguan City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original verdict on December 3, 2021.

Ms. Huang had previously been sentenced to four years in September 2001 and detained for 15 days twice, in 2015 and 2019.