(Minghui.org) Two Dezhou City, Shandong 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.

Ms. Zhang Xia was arrested on March 3, 2022 and had her home ransacked. Two months before her arrest, on January 14, she saw a young man putting a listening device on her electric motorcycle. She was placed under residential surveillance after her arrest and transferred to the Dezhou City Detention Center on May 4 on criminal detention. The Pingyuan County Procuratorate soon indicted her.

Ms. Wang Jinzhen, 82, was arrested on March 5, 2022. Her Falun Gong related items were confiscated and submitted by the police as prosecution evidence against her. She was detained at the Decheng District Lockup and later released on bail. Prior to her arrest, she had been harassed twice in early March 2021.

It was recently confirmed by Minghui.org that Ms. Zhang was sentenced to four years with a 20,000-yuan fine. She has been taken to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison. Ms. Wang was sentenced to three years with a 10,000-yuan fine. She was allowed to serve the time at home.

According to information collected by Minghui.org, at least 744 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and another 1,050 harassed in Shandong in 2022. At least 8 died in the persecution and 146 were sentenced to prison.