(Minghui.org) Two Dalian City, Liaoning 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.
Mr. Wang Jian, 55, was sentenced to four years. He has appealed the verdict. The other practitioner, Ms. Yang Shuyu, 64, received three years.
The two practitioners were arrested on February 23, 2024, together with three other practitioners, including Ms. Zhang Yumei, Ms. Dong Yuechun, both in their 70s, and another female practitioner in her 80s.
Mr. Wang’s home was also raided by officers from the Lijia Street Police Station, who had installed a tracking device on his private car months ago. They confiscated the computer and printer left by his late father, Mr. Wang Yunting, also a Falun Gong practitioner.
While the practitioner in her 80s was released on the same day, the other four practitioners were taken to the Yaojia Detention Center. Ms. Zhang and Ms. Dong were released after ten days of administrative detention. Mr. Wang and Ms. Yang remain detained.
Mr. Wang held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. He fell into critical condition and was resuscitated in the hospital. Despite his condition, the police not only refused to release him, but also submitted his and Ms. Yang’s cases to the Ganjingzi District Procuratorate.
Mr. Wang and Ms. Yang appeared in the Ganjingzi District Court at 1:30 p.m. on November 2, 2024. The computer and printer confiscated from Mr. Wang’s home were used by prosecutor Yan Fei as evidence against him.
The judge convicted them weeks later.
Prior to their latest sentencing, both practitioners have been arrested and detained for their faith before.
Ms. Yang’s Past Persecution
Ms. Yang was arrested on November 20, 2008, together with another elderly practitioner, after being reported by two young men for talking to them about Falun Gong. Both women were beaten by the police, resulting in bleeding noses and swelling all over their bodies. The elderly practitioner also suffered bone fractures and had difficulty breathing. She was released soon after. Ms. Yang was held at the Yaojia Detention Center for over a month. She was released on December 29, 2008 after she developed high blood pressure.
Ms. Yang was arrested again on June 25, 2011 while attending a gathering of local practitioners. It’s not clear how long and where she was detained.
Her next arrest was on March 8, 2016, by four officers from the Jinxiu Police Station, for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. She was detained at the Yaojia Detention Center and her arrest was approved in April 2016. The Shahekou District Procuratorate returned her case several times to the police, citing insufficient evidence. She was released unconditionally on March 30, 2017, after spending over a year in custody.
Mr. Wang’s Past Persecution
Mr. Wang was previously arrested on July 6, 2012 and sentenced to seven years by the Shahekou District Court in June 2013. While he was serving time at the Dongling Prison, his employer, the Dalian Bank, fired him. After he was released in 2018, he found a job with the Dalian Branch of Heier Group Corporation, only to be fired shortly after again for talking to his clients about Falun Gong.
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