(Minghui.org) A Linquan County resident was sentenced to five years in prison for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

Police arrested Ms. Ma Junping in June 2016 and ransacked her home. She was detained for 15 days at Fuyang City Lockup followed by one month at Fuyang City Detention Center. She was then given three months of house arrest.

Zhang Lei, then vice-head of the Linquan County Domestic Security Office, said Ms. Ma should thank him for securing her temporary release. He hinted at expecting some kind of favor from her. She refused to offer a bribe. He then threatened to take her back into custody if she dared to expose his persecution of her and local Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Ma wasn't deterred and proceeded to publicize Zhang's persecution of Falun Gong. He responded by changing her prosecution status to “released on bail” at the end of her house arrest term. He then forwarded her case to the local procuratorate.

Ms. Ma appeared in Linquan County Court on February 17, 2017. She testified in her own defense and shared how she was twice given forced labor for her faith.

Ms. Ma is now serving time at Hefei City Women's Prison. It is unclear when she was sentenced.

Zhang Lei: +86-15215589559