(Minghui.org) Two men in Linxia City, Gansu Province, were sentenced to heavy terms in early November 2020 for raising awareness about the persecution of their faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhao Yujie, around 44, and Mr. Chen Yongsen, around 65, were arrested by the Linxia City Domestic Security Office in February 2020 after the police found them making informational materials about Falun Gong.
After nine months in custody, Mr. Chen was sentenced to 9 years and Mr. Zhao to 9.5 years. Both of them are still being held in Linxia City Detention Center at the time of writing. More details about their cases remain to be investigated.
Prior to his latest term, Mr. Zhao was repeatedly targeted for upholding his faith. He was fired from his job at the Forestry Survey and Design Institute in Qinghai Province. In the years that followed, he was given a year and a half of forced labor and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He was beaten, shocked with electric batons, and held in solitary confinement while serving time in Menyuan Prison in Qinghai.
