78-year-old Woman Sentenced to 2.5 Years for Hosting Study Session at Home

(Minghui.org) Minghui.org recently confirmed that a 78-year-old Jieyang City, Guangdong Province resident was sentenced to 2.5 years in September 2021 for hosting a Falun Gong study session at her home.

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

Ms. Zhong Peizhen was arrested on June 14, 2020, while studying Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong, at her home with nine other practitioners, including Mr. Chen Hongyuan, Ms. Liu Chunlan, Ms. Huang Yanzhi, Ms. Wu Yueyin, Ms. Yao Shaohong, Ms. Yao Jingjiao, Ms. Jiang Biyin, Ms. Cai Wenjun and Ms. Cai Hui, most of whom are in their 70s and 80s. 

Ms. Zhong was released on bail on the next day. Ms. Yao Jingjiao, Ms. Jiang, Ms. Cai Wenjun and Ms. Cai Hui were released on the same day and cleared of prosecution. Ms. Wu and Ms. Huang were released on July 14, after one month at the Jieyang City Detention Center. Mr. Chen, Ms. Liu and Ms. Yao Shaohong remain in custody.

The police kept harassing the released practitioners and attempted to force them to write statements to renounce Falun Gong, threatening them with having their children fired from their jobs. Some of their family members were also harassed or even detained. 

Shortly before Ms. Zhong’s one-year bail was about to expire, the Jiedong District Procuratorate approved her arrest on June 10, 2021 and moved her case to the Jiedong District Court. She was sentenced to 2.5 years and fined 30,000 yuan by the Jiedong District Court on September 28. 

Mr. Chen, one of the practitioners arrested at Ms. Zhong’s home, was sentenced to nine years with an 80,000-yuan fine in late 2020. He appealed with the Jieyang City Intermediate Court, while ruled to uphold his original verdict on March 18, 2021. He was taken to the Sihui Prison on September 11, 2021. The case status of Ms. Liu and Ms. Yao Shaohong aren’t clear.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Chen Shaoyong (陈少涌), head of Jieyang City Domestic Security Office: [phone]Fan Shaobin (范少彬), deputy head of Domestic Security Office: [phone]Huang Ruizhong (黄锐忠), head of Rongcheng District Police Department: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related reports:

Jieyang City, Guangdong Province: 18 Arrested in One Day, 9 Still Detained

Guangdong Man Sentenced to Nine Years for Reading Falun Gong Books