(Minghui.org) It has been recently confirmed by Minghui.org that a married couple in Fangshan District, Beijing were both sentenced to prison in 2022 for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Su Xiurong, 68, was sentenced to 3.5 years and fined 4,000 yuan. Her husband, Mr. Liu Shengzhi, was given 2 years with a 2,000-yuan fine. The Fangshan District Court garnished 6,000 yuan from the couple’s joint bank account to pay their fines.
The couple’s sentencing stemmed from an incident in March 2021, when they were reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police soon began to monitor them. The couple noticed someone staked outside their home when they opened the door on the morning of April 26, 2021. Later that morning, at around 10 a.m., more than ten officers, along with a few village officials, suddenly showed up at the couple’s crop field, where they were working.
The police forced the couple to get into their van and then drove to the couple’s house. After they arrived, the couple weren’t allowed to get out of the vehicle, but were kept in the van and watched by two officers. The rest of the officers broke into the couple’s home, terrifying their daughter and her two young children who happened to be there.
The police confiscated a box of CDs and a few brochures containing information about Falun Gong. They then put Ms. Su and Mr. Liu on bail pending trial, but returned many times to harass them. The couple later learned that the police were from the Yancun Police Station.
Prosecutor Ai Yang of the Fangshan District Procuratorate indicted the couple, and judge Dong Jie of the Fangshan District Court sentenced them in 2022 (exact date unknown).
As both Ms. Su and Mr. Liu had some medical conditions, Dong ordered them to remain on bail after convicting them. The couple filed an appeal but their appeal was denied. They then submitted their appeal to the Superior Court in Beijing and 12345 (a hotline number designated to take complaints against government agencies), but received no response.
Dong ordered the police to check in on the couple on a regular basis so as to determine when they’d be healthy enough for prison admission. Most recently, five officers from the Yancun Police Station, one surnamed Hou, showed up at the couple’s home on November 24, 2023 and said they had to do a physical examination. If they were found to be fit for imprisonment, they’d be taken into custody; otherwise the court would order them to serve time at home. It is unclear whether the couple underwent physical examinations as ordered.
Due to the tremendous stress of being prosecuted, Mr. Liu’s health has quickly declined in the past few years. He has been hospitalized four times since 2021.
Past Persecution
Ms. Su took up Falun Gong in 1996 and became a more caring and considerate person. She no longer fought with her husband and the couple enjoyed a happy marriage. Mr. Liu was amazed by her changes and joined her in practicing Falun Gong.
After the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Su appealed to the central government multiple times for her right to practice Falun Gong. She was arrested at an unknown time and held at various facilities during her detention, including the Zhoukoudian Psychiatric Hospital, a drug rehabilitation center, a lockup, a brainwashing center, and a detention center.
Ms. Su was also given one year of forced labor at an unknown date.
After she was arrested again in February 2006, Ms. Su was sentenced to 5.5 years and brutally tortured during her imprisonment. She was savagely beaten, shocked with electric batons and injected with unknown drugs. She was on the verge of death several times. Once while she was half conscious during a torture session, she heard a person saying, “We are police. The higher-up has said that we bear no responsibility if we beat you to death. And no one would know if you indeed died.”
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