(Minghui.org) A Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, resident, was recently sentenced to seven years for raising awareness about the persecution of his faith, Falun Gong.

Mr. Gao Xiaoying, around 40, graduated from Northwest A&F University, majoring in food testing. He worked as a manager at a food company. He was sentenced to prison after he was arrested at work on July 5, 2023.

The police accused Mr. Gao of promoting Falun Gong on the Internet. They searched his home and took him to the Qindu District Police Department in nearby Xianyang City for questioning. His family went to the Qindu District Detention Center several times to visit him, but each time they were turned away.

The Qindu District Procuratorate indicted Mr. Gao and submitted his case to the Qindu District Court on December 20, 2023. On May 14, 2024, the court-appointed lawyer informed his family that a hearing of his case was scheduled later that day. The family rushed to the court, but were only allowed to have a quick talk with him without being allowed to attend the hearing.

Mr. Gao’s family learned in early December 2024 that he was sentenced to seven years around mid-November and that he had 15 days to appeal the verdict. As both of his parents are in poor health and his child is only one year old, his family is devastated by his lengthy sentence.

According to an insider, four other Falun Gong practitioners were also sentenced together with Mr. Gao, but information about their cases is unclear.

Prior to his latest sentence, Mr. Gao was previously arrested in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, in March 2013 and later sentenced to three years. He was released from the Shandong Province Prison on March 20, 2016. Because of his prior prison sentence, the judge in charge of this case accused him of being a “repeat offender” and gave him a heavy term.