Three Hunan Residents Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong

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

Ms. Zeng Qinling and Ms. Tang Xueying were each sentenced to four years and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Tang Jiangnan was given two years with two years probation and a 6,000 yuan fine.

Ms. Tang Jiangnan, in her 80s, was first arrested on September 6, 2021. Her computer, printer and copy paper that she used to print informational materials about Falun Gong were confiscated. Although she was released on the same day, the police came back and took her to the Xiameiqiao Brainwashing Center for interrogation every day during the day for the next three weeks. She was forced to provide information about other local practitioners.

On October 14, a group of officers, including those from the Beihu District Political and Legal Affairs Committee and 610 Office, broke into Ms. Zeng’s home. Her Falun Gong books, informational materials, computer and several cell phones were confiscated. She was first taken to the Xiameiqiao Brainwashing Center and then transferred to the Chenzhou City Detention Center. As her husband had long divorced her, fearing being implicated in the persecution and her daughter lives in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, no family member sought her release after she was arrested.

A month later, on November 18, Ms. Tang Xueying and her husband Mr. Zhu Zhixiong were also arrested and taken to the brainwashing center. Officers Zhang Bing and Hou Zhendong, as well as secretary Li of the Beihu District Political and Legal Affairs Committee, were involved in their arrests. The couple’s home was ransacked as well.

The police held the couple in interrogation chairs and chained their bodies and feet to the chairs for over six hours. Although Mr. Zhu was later released, Ms. Tang was taken to the Chenzhou City Detention Center. She was held in a separate room, with a note on the door, “Not allowed to meet with the lawyer.” When her family went there to visit her, they were rejected visitation as well.

The police submitted Ms. Tang Xueying’s case to the procuratorate on January 4, 2022. The Hunan Province Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Public Security Bureau, the Beihu District Domestic Security Office, Suxian District Domestic Security Office and Bailu Police Station established a special task force to handle her case. The Party secretary of Chenzhou City was also involved.

The Suxian District Court held a video hearing of the cases against Ms. Tang Xueying, Ms. Zeng Qinling and Ms. Tang Jiangnan on April 11, 2022.

Ms. Tang Jiangnan was represented by a court-appointed lawyer, who entered a guilty plea for her. Her family also urged her to plead guilty in exchange for the court’s leniency. It’s not clear whether she complied. The other two practitioners refused to accept court-appointed lawyers and pleaded not guilty. The judge adjourned the session in less than one hour and announced their verdicts days later.