DATE=12/26/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHINA-FALUN GONG (L-UPDATE) NUMBER=2-257516 BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO DATELINE=BEIJING CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A Chinese court has handed down severe jail sentences to four leaders of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement. V-O-A's Stephanie Ho reports Chinese police cordoned off the area around the courthouse (Sunday) in Beijing, to prevent protests by the group's members. TEXT: State-run Chinese media say 59-year-old Li Chang, a former deputy director of the Public Security Ministry, was sentenced to 18-years in prison. He was charged with illegally obtaining state secrets and using a cult to undermine the law and cause human deaths. Chinese authorities outlawed Falun Gong five-months ago, blaming it for the deaths of 14-hundred members who have died after refusing medical help when ill. Falun Gong is a mix of Buddhism, Taoism, meditation and breathing exercises designed to help adherents harness their inner energy. Official reports say the court also handed down a 16- year jail sentence to 50-year-old Wang Zhiwen, a former Railways Ministry official, and a 12-year prison term to 36-year-old Ji Liewu, a former manager of a state-owned company. The lightest sentence went to 40-year-old Yao Jie, who worked at a real estate firm. She was sent to prison for seven-years. The four defendants were accused of masterminding a protest in April - in which more than 10-thousand Falun Gong members surrounded the Zhongnanhai central leadership compound in Beijing to demand official recognition. The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China says the four defendants are all Communist-Party members. The Information Center says the trial already had been postponed twice, apparently due to international pressure. It added that at least 20 Falun Gong adherents who showed support for the defendants were rounded up outside the court earlier this month. Beijing says about 150 Falun Gong members have been arrested or are being sought on criminal charges. Last month, a court in the southern island province of Hainan handed down the first anti-Falun Gong jail sentences. Four of the group's leaders were sent away to as much as 12-years in prison, for using a cult to violate the law. Rights groups say hundreds of Falun Gong followers have been sent to labor camps -- an administrative punishment that does not require a court hearing. Meantime, these groups charge that at least six other adherents have died in police custody. Falun Gong claims 100-million members, but the Chinese government says its membership is closer to two- million. (SIGNED) NEB/HO/RAE 26-Dec-1999 12:14 PM EDT (26-Dec-1999 1714 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
