Three Practitioners Recently Tried in Xuchang City, Henan Province

In April 2009, the Weidu District Court in Xucheng City sentenced Ms. Chang Qing and Mr. Wang Haisong to three years in prison, while Ms. Shen Yuehong received a three and a half year sentence. Ms. Shen and Ms. Chang are being held at the Xinxiang City Women's Prison in Henan Province.

Ms. Shen, in her 30s, is a resident of Huangchun County, Henan Province. In May 2005, she and her one-year-old daughter were forced to leave home in order to avoid further persecution and possible arrest. While visiting Mr. Wang Haisong's home, she was arrested and detained by officers from the Weidu District Police Department in Xuchang City.

During Ms. Shen's detention, she was severely tortured to the point that she became emaciated and developed fluid build-up in her thoracic cavity. When her condition worsened, guards dragged her to the local hospital by a shackle that was attached to her foot. She later developed symptoms of tuberculosis and is now very weak.

Ms. Shen's husband Yang Jianjun is being detained at the Lin County Detention Centre in Henan Province. After being sentenced to ten years in prison by the Lin County Court, he lodged a formal appeal. Their two-year-old daughter finds it very hard being separated from her parents.

Ms. Chang Qing, 40, is an English teacher and is well respected by both her students and their parents. In June 2008, officers from the Weidu District Police Department in Xuchang City ransacked her home, and then arrested and detained her. This left her daughter without her financial support for going to college.

Mr. Wang Haisong, in his forties, was an employee at the Xuchang City General Factory. Because he refused to give up the practice of Falun Gong, he was arrested, sentenced to labour camp, and brutally beaten on numerous occasions. In May 2008, he was arrested by officers from the Weidu District Police Department and fired by his employer.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/4/16/199090.html