Two Women Practitioners from Yuzhou City, Henan Province, Sentenced

Name: Li Qiaocun
Gender: Female
Age: 49
Address: Wadian Village, Huolong Town, Yuzhou City, Henan Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 26th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Yuzhou City Detention Centre
City: Yuzhou
Province: Henan
Persecution Suffered: beatings, imprisonment, home ransacked, detention

Name: Li Meirong
Gender: Female
Age: 59
Address: Xijie Village, Yuzhou City, Henan Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 26th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Yuzhou City Detention Centre
City: Yuzhou
Province: Henan
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, imprisonment, home ransacked, detention

Two Falun Gong practitioners from Yuzhou City, Henan Province, 49-year-old Ms. Li Qiaocun and 59-year-old Ms. Li Meirong, were sentenced to four years and five years of imprisonment, respectively. Both practitioners have appealed.

Ms. Li Qiaocun and Ms. Li Meirong were arrested on the morning of July 26th, 2011, as they posted information about Falun Gong and the persecution on utility poles along the roadside outside Xiguan, Yuzhou City. Police officers, including Wang Fengtao and Song Minggang from the Xicheng Police Station, arrested them and took them to the Yuzhou City Detention Centre. The police also ransacked Ms. Li Meirong's home the same day.

The two women were placed under administrative detention for two weeks, then transferred to the Yuzhou City Custody Centre on July 4th. They were officially arrested on July 20th. While they were being held, the practitioners were taken to the Yuzhou City Domestic Security Division, where officers Geng Songtao and Pan Shuchao physically abused them in an unsuccessful attempt to extract confessions from them.

Ms. Li Meirong had suffered from heart problems, hepatitis B, and severe ascites before she began practising Falun Gong in 1999. Within a few months after she began practising, all her illnesses disappeared. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began slandering and vilifying Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Li started to validate the goodness of Falun Gong.

One evening in August, 2005, Ms. Li Meirong and several other practitioners drove a car to the countryside to distribute information about Falun Gong. Unfortunately they were betrayed by a former Falun Gong practitioner. The police ransacked Ms. Li's home, took all the practitioners' truth clarification materials, impounded their car, and took them to the Yuzhou City Detention Centre. Ms. Li Meirong was sentenced to five years in prison on November 20th, 2005, and released on July 17th, 2009.

Ms. Li Qiaocun started practiding Falun Gong in 1995. After the CCP began slandering and vilifying Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Li stepped forward. She went to Beijing twice to appeal for justice for Falun Gong and was taken back to her hometown. She was detained several times--the first time between July 23rd and August 10th, 1999; the second time was between October 13th and November 12th, 1999; and the third time, between July 1st and August 23rd, 2000. She was placed under administrative detention on December 13th, 2009; later placed in criminal detention on December 23rd; and finally placed under residential surveillance due to her poor health.

The two women were indicted by the Yuzhou City Court on October 19th, 2011, and tried on December 2nd, 2011. During the hearing, two lawyers entered a not-guilty plea for both practitioners. The prosecutor was unable to respond during the hearing, so the court adjourned.

On January 12th, 2012, the Yuzhou City Court announced the verdicts: Ms. Li Qiaocun was given a four-year term of imprisonment, and Ms. Li Meirong, a five-year term. Both of them appealed.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/2/17/253175.html