Seven Shandong Residents Tried for Practicing Falun Gong, Three Already Sentenced

(Minghui.org) Seven people in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, were recently tried in the Dong’e Court for refusing to give up their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

The seven practitioners were tried in two separate groups. No information on the exact dates they were tried is available. Mr. Li Chuanlu, Ms. Sun Yurong, and Mr. Wang Chengguo, whose lawyers entered not-guilty pleas for them, as well as Ms. Lu Jinyu, who didn’t have a lawyer, were tried together. The second group included Ms. Shang Sufang, Ms. Xu Jinfeng, and Mr. Liu Mingsen, whose lawyers pled not guilty for them.

It has been confirmed that Mr. Li, nearly 80, and Ms. Sun were each sentenced to five years with five years probation. Mr. Wang was sentenced to two years with two years probation. The status of the remaining practitioners remains to be investigated.

All seven had been on bail before their hearings, and they were all allowed to go home after the proceedings. While it is unclear if Mr. Liu, Ms. Shang, Ms. Xu, or Ms. Lu were also sentenced, the police descended on their homes on January 18, 2023, to take them back into custody. Because Ms. Shang, Ms. Xu, and Ms. Lu had been forced to live away from home after their hearings, the police put them on the wanted list. They seized Mr. Liu and took him to the Liaocheng City Detention Center.

Details of Arrests Before Trial

Thirty officers broke into Mr. Li’s home at around 9 p.m. on August 12, 2022, and arrested more than ten practitioners who were studying Falun Gong books, including the other six practitioners mentioned above. Their books and other personal items were confiscated. Although the police didn’t arrest Mr. Li due to his age, they summoned him and his wife to the police station to be interrogated the next day.

While most of the practitioners, including Mr. Li and Ms. Sun, were released, Ms. Lu, Mr. Liu, Mr. Wang, Ms. Shang, and Ms. Xu were held in a hotel for a brainwashing session and released under house arrest on August 31.

The police submitted the cases against Ms. Lu, Mr. Liu, Mr. Wang, Ms. Shang, Ms. Xu, Mr. Li, and Ms. Sun to the Dong’e County Procuratorate on October 8. They summoned the first five practitioners to the police station for an interview with the prosecutor on October 17.

Wang Changsong, the deputy head of the Chiping District Domestic Security Office, summoned all seven practitioners to the police station on November 7. From the station, they were taken to the hospital for physical exams and then held in a COVID quarantine hotel. Wang ordered their families to deliver clothes to them the next day.

All seven practitioners developed symptoms in the quarantine hotel. Mr. Li and Ms. Sun were the first two to be released. After Ms. Shang was hospitalized, Ms. Xu and Ms. Lu were also released when they were no longer able to walk. The police had to carry them out.

Mr. Wang and Mr. Liu also demanded to be released, but the police didn’t approve it. When their symptoms got worse, the police agreed to release them on December 23.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Liu Yafang (刘亚芳), head of Chiping District Domestic Security Office: [phone]Wang Changsong (王长松), deputy head of Chiping District Domestic Security Office: [phone]Xu Yiliang (徐宜亮), vice president of Dong’e County ProcuratorateRong Chuigong (荣垂功), judge, Dong’e County Court: [phone]Zhao Liyan (赵丽艳), judge, Dong’e County Court