Elderly Couple Sentenced to Over Ten Years in Prison in Anqiu City, Shandong Province for Their Beliefs

Mr. Ding Yuezhao and his wife, Zhang Yuying, along with three other practitioners in Anqiu City, Shandong Province, were sentenced to heavy prison terms by Anqiu City Court, for continuing to practise Falun Gong. Mr. Ding Yuezhao was sentenced to 12 years, Ms. Zhang Yuying to 13 years, Mr. Sun Zongxu to ten years, Mr. Tang Peiwu to nine years, and Ms. Lin Shuzhen to seven years.

They were arrested in December 2009 by Anqiu City police, almost tortured to death, and put on trial three times by the Anqiu City Court.

Below is a description of the persecution inflicted upon these five practitioners.

On December 20, 2009, Mr. Ding Yuezhao, in his 70s, and his wife, Zhang Yuying, 68, went to the local Labour and Social Security Bureau for personal matters and were followed and arrested by the local police. They were then detained at Anqiu City Detention Centre, where they were tortured so brutally that they were near death. They were then taken to Anqiu City People's Hospital for emergency treatment.

Ever since the Chinese Communist regime started persecuting Falun Gong, the couple has been harassed by the authorities, and were forced to flee their home to avoid further persecution. In 2009, the authorities stopped paying their salaries, leaving them without a source of income.

Mr. Sun Zongxu, 62, is a practitioner in Nansun Township, Hanting District, Weifang City, Shandong Province. He was a former member of the Hanting District Political Consultative Conference Committee. Mr. Sun has been harassed, arrested, detained, and tortured multiple times by police from Nansun Township in Hanting District. On the afternoon of December 29th, 2009, the Anqiu City police arrested him and detained him for several days. During the violent interrogation in police custody, he was beaten and tortured, and his legs were fractured.

Mr. Tang Peiwu, 47, is from Changle County, Weifang City. On December 20th, 2009, he was arrested in Anqiu City by the Anqiu City National Security Team. He was taken to a brainwashing centre, where he was savagely beaten by the police. Many fellow practitioners in other cells could hear him screaming.

Ms. Lin Shuzhen, 37, from Sanli Village, Anqiu City, was arrested on December 19th, 2009, by Anqiu City police and tortured in the Danshan Brainwashing Centre until she was on the verge of death. The Anqiu City Court sentenced her to seven years in prison. She has two young daughters, one ten years old and the other five. Her husband is now on his own to support the whole family.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/6/27/226041.html