(Minghui.org) Four Falun Gong practitioners--three women and one man--were sentenced in the Yongning County Court on April 13, 2016, without their lawyers being present and six months after their last hearing.
The four were arrested by Shengli Township police on December 22, 2014. They were first tried in the Yongning County Court on July 2 last year. Two lawyers from Beijing and six local lawyers entered not guilty pleas on their clients' behalf. The trial was adjourned after defense lawyers discovered that the prosecutor had been changed before the session began.
The second hearing took place on September 28 with two defense lawyers present. Ms. Jiang Hongying told the court how she had benefited from practicing Falun Gong. The lawyers pointed out that the persecution of Falun Gong has no legal leg to stand on.
Over 60 people were present at the hearing, some of them Falun Gong practitioners. The hearing was adjourned with no verdict.
Sentencing Details
Mr. Zhao Yuhu, almost 50 years old, was given a two-and-a-half-year sentence and fined 3,000 yuan. He was taken away immediately after the sentencing. Mr. Zhao was an engineer at Ningxia Housing Construction Development Co. Prior to his latest arrest, he had spent two years in a forced labor camp and seven years in prison.
Ms. Jiang Hongying, over 70, was sentenced to two years and three months and fined 3,000 yuan. She is retired from Ningxia Hydraulic Research Institute. She had been sent to forced labor camps twice for a total of four years. Ms. Jiang developed symptoms of stroke and facial paralysis while detained in Yingchuan City Detention Center in early January of this year. She was released on bail and has been under surveillance by the local police.
Ms. Wang Xiangyu, also over 70, was sentenced to one year and nine months with two years’ suspension. She was fined 2,000 yuan. She has been released on bail.
Ms. Zhao Sumei, almost 50, was given an 18-month sentence. She was fined 2,000 yuan also. Her sentenced was suspended, and she has returned home.
