(Minghui.org) Five Falun Gong practitioners were given prison terms ranging from two years to four years. Ms. Yan Shufang, Ms. Zhou Xiulian, and Ms. Zhang Xueying were sentenced to fours years to Jilin Province Women's Prison. Ms. Yang Yang was sentenced to two years, and Ms. Jiang Kai was sentenced to three and a half years. Their sentences came six months after their trial and over a year and a half after their arrests.
The five were among the 12 practitioners arrested on April 24, 2016, for distributing materials about Falun Gong and the persecution in Antu County. They were tried on June 13, 2017, in the Antu County Court. During the trial, Ms. Yan Shufang told the court how she was tortured by the police. Other practitioners, however, refused to answer any questions to protest the illegal trial. Moreover, Ms. Yan's lawyer was not allowed to enter the courtroom to defend her.
Their arrests were the result of an organized effort by officers from Jilin Provincial Police Bureau, Yanbian Police Department, and Tonghua Police Department to stop practitioners from Tonghua from distributing Falun Gong materials in other areas. According to Ms. Yan, the police dragged her on the ground for over 100 meters when they arrested her. Her shoes, socks, and pants came off. Ms. Yan was then handcuffed and put into a police vehicle.
Ms. Zhou Xiulian passed out when police tried to take her to a detention center. She was taken back to the police station. Although her blood pressure and heart rate were very high, she was eventually taken to Changliu Detention Center.
She was then transferred to Yangji Brainwashing Center on May 13 and passed out again the next day during interrogation. However, the brainwashing center staff thought she was pretending, so they handcuffed her hands behind her back and threw her on the floor. Not until they saw her having a convulsion did they release her from handcuffs. Ms. Zhou was later transferred to Yanji Detention Center.
Ms. Zhou's daughter, Ms. Yang Yang, was released on bail on June 4, 2016. When their case was transferred to Yanji, Ms. Yang Yang was summoned for interrogation by Yanji Police and has been detained at Yanji since January 12, 2017.
