Li Zhuozhong and Liao Yuanqun were sentenced for keeping at home, duplicating, and sharing literature of the banned movement.
by Yang Feng
On December 20, 2024, relatives of Li Zhuozhong and his wife Liao Yuanqun learned that they had been both sentenced to ten years in jail by the Meixian District Court of Meizhou City, Guangdong. Although even harsher judgements have been pronounced against Falun Gong practitioners, this one is a record of sort for spouses receiving the same sentence for comparatively mild offenses such as having been found in possession of Falun Gong literature and duplicating and sharing it with others.
On April 19, 2024, Li Zhuozhong and Liao Yanqiong were detained by the National Security Brigade of Xingning Public Security Bureau. They were formally arrested and prosecuted. Li Zhuozhong underwent a physical examination at Xingning City Hospital, which revealed he had tuberculosis. The detention center refused to admit him, so he was held in a locked room at the Meizhou City Sick and Disabled Treatment and Drug Rehabilitation Center. Li’s ailing mother was shocked by the arrest, which made her condition worse. She died shortly thereafter and the police refused to let her son attend the funeral.
On April 19 the same specialized police squad arrested another local Falun Gong practitioner, Liao Juanna (not a relative of Liao Yanqiong) and the following day they detained Xie Yujun. Although Li and his wife didn’t know these fellow practitioners, they were tried together at the Meixian District Court, with Liao Juanna and Xie Yujun receiving a five year sentence.
Both Xie Yujun and Li Zhuozhong have a long history of persecution.
Li Zhuozhong is a former middle school teacher, and his wife used to teach in a kindergarten. Due to their faith since the beginning of the Falun Gong repression, they have experienced multiple instances of persecution over the past 25 years.
They were first found in possession of Falun Gong literature at home and arrested on May 9, 2003. They were sentenced to one year of forced labor. Li was arrested again in December 2006 and sentenced to another two years of forced labor. He reported that since he managed to smuggle Falun Gong lectures inside his cell, he was severely tortured by the guards.
Notwithstanding his health conditions, Li should now remain in jail for the next ten years. The same is true for his wife.
Yang Feng uses a pseudonym for security reasons.
