Li Shulin, 68 and at his fourth arrest, and his wife Wang Lijuan, 71, received heavy sentences in Luoyang, Henan.
by Yang Feng
Husband and wife in Luoyang, Henan, share the same faith and the same fate. An old couple of Falun Gong practitioners has been sentenced to four years in jail for the husband and five years for the wife.
Li Shulin is a male Falun Gong practitioner from Henan and should not be confused with a female co-religionist from Hebei also called Li Shulin, who died in 2004 because of the mistreatments she suffered during her “re-education.” The male Li Shulin was born in 1954 and had been already arrested three times during the first decade of our century as a Falun Gong practitioner. He has been sent to re-education centers where he has been beaten and tortured.
In January 2023, Li and his wife Wang Lijuan were reported to the police for distributing Falun Gong materials during the Chinese New Year season. On January 31, police from the Jianxi District Public Security Bureau of Luoyang City broke into their home, detained them, and confiscated their Falun Gong books, personal belongings, and money. It is to be noted that the Jianxi District Public Security Bureau of Luoyang City is nationally famous for its merciless persecution of “illegal religion,” including Christian house churches.
The old Falun Gong practitioners were eventually liberated and placed under residential surveillance. However, they “disappeared” in March.
Only in this month of November were their relatives informed that Li Shulin had been sentenced to four years in prison and Wang Lijuan to five years. These are heavy jail penalties for senior citizens whose only crime is the distribution of Falun Gong material.