Four Beijing Residents Sentenced to Prison After Over Three Years of Prolonged Detention

(Minghui.org) Four Beijing residents were recently sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Li Shuang, Ms. Liu Chunai, and Ms. Yue Liyong were each given three years and nine months and fined 4,000 yuan. Ms. Yue’s husband, Mr. Yan Yong, was sentenced to three years and six months, also with a 4,000-yuan fine.

The four practitioners were arrested on August 11, 2019. The police had been monitoring Ms. Liu for some time before making the arrests. They first arrested Ms. Li, after finding out that she had visited Ms. Liu earlier that day. Ms. Liu and the couple, who own an electronic device company Ms. Li worked at, were also arrested hours later.

The practitioners’ homes were ransacked and their Falun Gong-related materials were confiscated. They have been held at the Xicheng District Detention Center since.

The police submitted the practitioners’ cases to the Xicheng District Procuratorate with the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong. Although the prosecutor returned the case citing insufficient evidence and Ms. Li’s lawyer also demanded her release, the police still held the practitioners in custody and later pressured the prosecutor to indict them.

The Xicheng District Court scheduled a hearing of the joint case against the practitioners on August 12, 2020, but later canceled it after Mr. Yan developed a fever. The court didn’t inform the practitioners’ families when holding the rescheduled hearing on September 22, 2020. The prosecutor recommended heavy terms against the practitioners.

The court held another hearing on August 11, 2022. All four practitioners pleaded not guilty and they insisted that they didn’t violate any law in practicing Falun Gong.

Ms. Yue’s lawyer said that the incarceration caused significant financial loss to the couple’s company and Ms. Yue also developed a medical condition due to prolonged detention. The judge and prosecutor remained silent.

The practitioners’ lawyers confirmed their prison sentences recently.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Cheng Jie (程杰), officer of Fuwaidajie Police Station: [phone]Tang Weijia (唐薇佳), prosecutor of Xicheng District Procuratorate: [phone]Liu Shuangyu (刘双玉), president of Xicheng District Court: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related reports:

Young Woman Detained Nearly Three Years for Her Faith

Four Beijing Residents Tried for Their Faith, One Woman’s Father and Relative Detained for Seeking Her Release