(Minghui.org) A couple in Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, was recently sentenced to three years each for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Xu Shujun, 88, and his wife Ms. Wang Chuanyun, 82, were arrested on August 30, 2017, after being followed and monitored by officers from the Jidong County Domestic Security Office for hanging up banners about Falun Gong. Two other practitioners, Ms. Zheng Jinping and Ms. Liu Shuyun, were also arrested.
Due to their age, Mr. Xu and Ms. Wang were released that same day. They were also exempted from being indicted by the Jidong County Procuratorate.
Ms. Zheng and Ms. Liu remained in custody. They were both tried in the Jidong County Court on March 28 and sentenced on April 17 to four years and four months in prison and fined 50,000 yuan.
The authorities kept harassing Mr. Xu and Ms. Wang. In August 2021, the police went to their home to collect “evidence” to charge them. The Jidong County Court announced in September 2021 that they were each sentenced to a three-year prison term and a 10,000-yuan fine.
Both have appealed the verdicts. It’s not clear whether the couple has been taken into custody.
Two Heilongjiang Women Sentenced to Prison for Hanging up Banners Bearing Falun Gong Message