(Minghui.org) Three Wuhan City residents were recently sentenced to prison for producing and distributing materials exposing the Chinese communist regime’s persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline based on the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Ms. Luo Jinling and Mr. Li Guohua were both arrested on April 25, 2016, while Mr. Li Wande was captured weeks later on May 12. Their families were notified on January 10, 2017 that they were scheduled to appear in court the next morning.
The presiding judge alleged that the three practitioners broke the law by using their home computers and printers to make Falun Gong materials. He, however, failed to specify which law was broken. Ms. Luo argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, and Mr. Li Wande followed up saying that it was their constitutional right to spread information about the practice.
The judge stopped them, but he soon began to complain about a bad headache. He adjourned the session and promised to hold another hearing.
The promised hearing never took place. The practitioners’ families received the verdicts on January 19. Ms. Luo and Mr. Li Wande were each sentenced to 5 years, and Mr. Li Guohua was given 6 years.
Arrests
The local police raided five homes on April 25, 2016 and seized seven Falun Gong practitioners, including Ms. Luo and Mr. Li Guohua.
Ms. Luo was held at Wuhan First Detention Center for 15 days before being transferred to Yangyuan Brainwashing Center, where she was tortured and interrogated for five months. She was so traumatized by the ordeal that at one point she had to be hospitalized. The police, though, soon took her back to the detention center.
Mr. Li Guohua was moved back and forth between Qingling First Detention Center and Yangyuan Brainwashing Center. He refused to admit any wrongdoing as he was merely exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Mr. Li Wande was arrested a few weeks later and taken straight to Yangyuan Brainwashing Center. The guards there often forced him to sit in a chair with a high-voltage light bulb shining right in his eyes. His hair soon turned gray and his eyes became swollen. He looked emaciated when he appeared in court.
