(Minghui.org) A Falun Gong practitioner in Liaoning Province was recently sentenced to an eight-year prison term for making automated calls to the public informing them about the persecution of Falun Gong.

Ms. Zhan Shuhua was tried by Lushun Court on March 23, 2018. Judge Yu Sen asked her family members prior to the trial to persuade her to renounce Falun Gong. The judge promised her family that she would be immediately released if she agreed to give up practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Zhan refused to comply.

The judge didn't allow her lawyer to represent and defend her during the trial. Without a lawyer, Ms. Zhan only said, “I didn't violate any law in practicing Falun Gong” at the beginning and she then remained silent and refused to answer the judge's questions.

Ms. Zhan received her verdict of eight years of prison time and a 30,000 yuan fine on July 31, 2018. The verdict said that the auto-dialing software she used indicated that she made 29,598 calls to the public about Falun Gong, for which she should receive heavy punishment.

Ms. Zhan has been detained at Yaojia Detention Center since her arrest in June 2017. She has appealed her case to the Dalian Intermediate Court.