Ms. Li Xiangmei and Ms. Guo Rongxian from Gaoping City, Shanxi Province, Sentenced

According to an unofficial source, Ms. Li Xiangmei, 58, and Ms. Guo Rongxian, 56, from Gaoping City, Shanxi Province, were recently sentenced to prison. The local court sentenced Ms. Li to four years and Ms. Guo to three years. Around October 15th, they were taken to the Shanxi Provincial Women's Prison in Maoerling. Ms. Li's daughter was sent to the same prison three years ago because she firmly believes in Falun Gong. Mother and daughter were separated for several years. They met in the prison and cried on each other's shoulder.

On April 23rd, 2010, Ms. Li and Ms. Guo were reported to the police for distributing Falun Gong materials in Jiaojiagou Village, Shenlong Town, Gaoping City. They were arrested by officers from the Shenlong Police Station in Gaoping City. In the middle of the night, officers from the Gaoping 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and the Domestic Security Team went to Ms. Li Xiangmei's home and took her computer, printer, Falun Gong books, and other belongings. The police then tried to ransack Ms. Guo's home but were unsuccessful because no one in the community where Ms. Guo lives told the police the correct location of Ms. Guo's home. The police walked around and around but could not find Ms. Guo's home. Angry, they left. On April 25th, guided by Yang Changchun, the former chief of the Gaoping Domestic Security Team, the police found Ms. Guo's home and ransacked it.

Ms. Li and Ms. Guo have been detained in the Gaoping Detention Centre for almost six months. Their families have not been able to visit them and did not know when the trial was held or the nature of the sentences. All the proceedings were held in secret. After Ms. Li Xiangmei was arrested, her severely ill husband went to the detention centre and asked to visit her several times. However, the detention centre denied his requests without giving any reason. Ms. Guo's husband is weak and depends on her care. After she was arrested, her husband became very anxious, suffered a seizure, and was hospitalised. Now Ms. Guo's daughter not only has to take care of her father but also worries about her mother. The detention centre will not allow her to visit her mother either.

Ms. Li Xiangmei and Ms. Guo Rongxian's families were not allowed to visit them until before the two practitioners were secretly sent to the Shanxi Provincial Women's Prison in Maoerling.

This was the second time that Ms. Li Xiangmei has been arrested. In October 2002, she was detained in a forced labour camp for 18 months because she distributed Falun Gong materials. The guards there forced her to do slave labour and tortured her both physically and mentally. Ms. Li was not released until March 2004. In July 2007, her daughter, Li Xiaoling, was arrested by officers from the Beicheng Police Station in Gaoping because she talked to the personnel of the Gaoping Government about Falun Gong and distributed Falun Gong materials inside the government building. The Gaoping Court later sentenced Ms. Li Xiaoling to four years in prison.

Ms. Li Xiangmei's husband became severely ill due to the series of hardships. In 2009, Ms. Li accompanied her husband to Beijing for surgery. In less than a year, Ms. Li was again detained in prison. Her husband is very anxious, lacks proper care, and has become very weak.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/11/21/232763.html