(Minghui.org) Three Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province residents were recently sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

The Xihu District Court announced the verdicts against the practitioners on August 25, 2021: Ms. Liang Meihua was sentenced to two years and eight months and fined 5,000 yuan. Ms. Xiong Quanmei was sentenced to one year and ten months with a 3,000 yuan fine. Ms. Xie Chunmei was sentenced to one year and two months, with a 5,000 yuan fine. 

Ms. Liang and Ms. Xie are currently detained at the Nanchang City No.1 Detention Center. Ms. Xiong has been placed on bail at home due to her physical condition.

Ms. Liang Meihua

Ms. Xiong Quanmei

Ms. Xie Chunmei

Ms. Xie, 57, was arrested by nearly 20 plainclothes and armed officers on July 18, 2020, when she was about to go out to dump her trash. The officers searched everywhere in her home. When she refused to open a locked cabinet for officer Wan to check, he twisted her hands behind her back and pressed her on the ground. She screamed because of the pain. 

The other two practitioners, Ms. Liang, 73, and Ms. Xiong, 69, who were at Ms. Xie’s home to study Falun Gong’s teachings together, tried to stop the police violence, only to be pressed on the ground themselves.

The police spent the next two hours ransacking Ms. Xie’s home. A large number of personal belongings were confiscated, including 75 Falun Gong books, 1 photo of Falun Gong’s founder, 66 copies of Falun Gong booklets, 26 portable drives, 1 computer, 5 printers, 1 paper cutter, 3 staplers, 10,000 yuan in cash, a few memory cards and some other office supplies. Most of the supplies had been used by Ms. Xie to produce informational materials about Falun Gong for distribution, in order to overcome the strict censorship and raise awareness about the persecution.

The police also searched Ms. Xiong’s bag and confiscated her Falun Gong books, 24 booklets, 3 DVDs, and 50 flyers. They then searched Ms. Xiong and Ms. Liang’s respective homes and took away some of their personal belongings. 

After over 20 hours of interrogation at the Xihu District Police Station, the three practitioners were taken to the Nanchang City No.1 Detention Center the next evening. Their arrests were approved on August 18. 

While Ms. Xiong was later released on bail on October 12 due to her health condition, the other two practitioners remain in custody.

The Xihu District Court tried the three practitioners on June 3, 2021. Ms. Liang and Ms. Xie appeared through a video call at the detention center and Ms. Xiong attended the hearing in person in the courthouse. 

The judge didn’t inform Ms. Liang and Ms. Xie’s family members of the hearing, and also blocked Ms. Xiong’s family from attending it, even after they raised concerns about Ms. Xiong’s health condition.

Ms. Liang and Ms. Xie refused to accept the court-appointed lawyers, who were instructed by the authorities to enter guilty pleas for them. Instead, Ms. Liang entered a not guilty plea herself and talked about how she has benefited from practicing Falun Gong and how the regime has been persecuting Falun Gong without any legal basis. Despite a constant interruption by judge Liu Yufang, she finished reading her defense statement.

Ms. Xie and Ms. Xiong also entered a not guilty plea for themselves and said they didn’t violate any law in practicing Falun Gong or speaking out about it. 

Ms. Xiong’s court-appointed lawyer, who entered a guilty plea for her, asked the judge to give her a light sentence given her poor health.

Related reports:

Three Jiangxi Residents Appear in Court Following Arrests for Studying Spiritual Teachings Together

Three Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested Again After Years of Persecution