(Minghui.org) Recently, Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Liu Liyan and Ms. Lu Mengjun were illegally sentenced to prison, Mr. Liu to three years and Ms. Lu to four. Both had been imprisoned in the past for their belief in Falun Gong.

Mr. Liu and Ms. Lu were distributing informational materials near Jixu Bridge in Shebu Town, Xiangtan County, on September 1, 2013, to let people know about the persecution of Falun Gong. They accidentally fell and were injured. An officer saw them, arrested them, and took them to a local police station.

In spite of their injuries, the two were interrogated and forcibly fingerprinted.

Fifteen days later Mr. Liu and Ms. Lu were again arrested by the Xiangtan 610 Office and taken to a county detention center. When relatives visited, they learned that Mr. Liu had been sentenced to three and half years in prison, and Ms. Lu to five years. Ms. Lu was to be taken to the women's prison in Changsha City before April 10.

Mr. Liu Detained Multiple Times

Mr. Liu, 63, lived in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province. After the Chinese Communist Party started persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Liu appealed in Beijing three times. Each time, he was arrested and sent back to Xiangtan City, where he was detained in a drug rehabilitation center for 15 days. While there, he was beaten almost every day by inmates. Ten days after he was released, he began to make his living as a pedicab driver providing transportation for people near the train station. He was arrested again when he was seen reading a Falun Gong book while he waited for customers. He was sent to Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp.

On January 14, 2013, he and Mr. Yang Shiyi were arrested for handing out Falun Gong informational materials in the Ningxiang District and detained for 15 days. His pedicab was confiscated. The Ningxiang National Security Division didn't return his pedicab after his release, so Mr. Liu had no way to make a living.

Ms. Lu Persecuted in Hunan Women's Prison for Three Years

Ms. Lu Mengjun, 52, lived in Fancheng Village, Hutang Town, Xiangtan City. In 2007, she was arrested for handing out Falun Gong materials. After being detained for one day at the police station, she was taken to Shuangfeng Prison and incarcerated for a year, then transferred to Hunan Women's Prison for another three years and severely tortured. Shortly after she was released, she was arrested again and sent to the Wujiahuayuan Brainwashing Center in Xiangtan City.

On September 2, 2013, the local security division and police station, led by Li Shaotie, ransacked Ms. Lu's home and took 500 yuan in cash, a paper cutter, and a photo of Teacher Li Hongzhi. Her elderly parents were shook up by the incident.

Related article:
Ms. Lu Mengjun Tortured at Hunan Women's Prison for Three Years
Ms. Lu Mengjun Arrested Again after Four Years of Imprisonment and Torture