(Minghui.org) Two men and two women in Linyi City, Shandong Province, were imprisoned recently for refusing to give up their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Gong Maohai, in his 60s; Ms. Qian Jinhua, 56; and Ms. Hu Jinping, 57, were visiting Ms. Hu's younger sister, Ms. Hu Jinhui, 55, on September 29, 2018, when the police showed up and arrested them. 

It appears that the police had been monitoring the practitioners for some time before the arrests.

The police ransacked Ms. Hu Jinhui's home and took all four residents to the Hedong District Detention Center. 

Mr. Gong was later sentenced to three years in prison, Ms. Qian to two years in prison, Ms. Hu Jinping to a year-and-a-half, and Ms. Hu Jinhui to nine years. 

Mr. Gong, Ms. Qian, and Ms. Hu Jinping appealed the verdicts, but the Linyi City Intermediate Court turned them all down.

Two more practitioners who were arrested around the same time, Mr. Zhu Tonggui and Mr. Liu Nailun, are still being held in the Hedong District Detention Center and will be tried for not renouncing their faith.

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