Mr. Zhou Xiqiong from Linquan County Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for His Faith

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhou Xiqiong from Linquan County was sentenced to 5 years in prison and has been admitted to Suzhou Prison.

Mr. Zhou and his wife Ms. Li Ying live in Huaji Town, Linquan County, Fuyang City, Anhui Province.

They were first arrested on June 15, 2016, for filing a criminal complaint against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong. They were released 10 days later.

Mr. Zhou moved to Shanghai afterward to avoid further arrests.

But Zhang Lei, deputy head of the local domestic security office, and other officers arrested Mr. Zhou in Shanghai on August 21, 2016. They brought Mr. Zhou back and held him in Linquan County Detention Center.

The police arrested Mr. Zhou's wife at home that afternoon and held her in the Fuyang City Detention Center.

It is unclear when Mr. Zhou was tried by judge Yang Liye of Linquan County Court.

While both Mr. Zhou and his wife remain detained, their 19-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son had to drop out of school and find jobs to support the family.

Zhang Lei also threatened Mr. Zhou’s relatives, friends, and neighbors. As a result, they did not dare to help the couple harvest the crops in their field.

Parties involved in the persecution of Mr. Zhou and his wife:

Zhang Lei (张磊), deputy head of Linquan County Domestic Security Division: [phone]Yang Zhigang (杨志刚), president-in-charge, Linquan County Court: [phone], [phone]