(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old woman in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province completed a one-year prison term on July 6, 2025. Before her family was allowed to pick her up, her local judicial office processed the so-called “handover” paperwork and forced her to sign an “education agreement.”
Ms. Zhao Xilan was later deceived into reporting to the Jiefang Police Station and forced to give her fingerprints and other biometric information. The police also photographed her against her will.
Both the judicial office and the police station kept monitoring Ms. Zhao after her prison release because of her faith, Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She used to suffer from numerous ailments, including heart disease, varicose veins, bone spurs, migraines, hair loss, and poor vision. After she took up Falun Gong in January 2002, all her symptoms disappeared in about four months.
Ms. Zhao was arrested on July 6, 2024 for practicing Falun Gong. She stood trial on November 22, 2024. The Hunnan District Court notified her on January 10, 2025 that she had been sentenced to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine. She was transferred from the Shenyang City First Detention Center to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on February 21, 2025. Even after she was released on July 6, 2025, the authorities still attempted to make her renounce Falun Gong through surveillance and “education.”
Ms. Zhao was taken to the team for newly admitted inmates at the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on February 21, 2025. The next morning, she was assigned to Division 12, which is designated to persecute jailed Falun Gong practitioners.
While held at cell 407 in team 12, Ms. Zhao was abused on a regular basis by inmates Liu Xiaoxue and Li Na, who were assigned to monitor her around the clock. In the winter, the two inmates opened the window to freeze her. They did not allow her to wear a jacket and forced her to stand for long hours.
The inmates also ordered Ms. Zhao to admit guilt and write various statements to renounce Falun Gong. They threatened to put her daughter in jail if she didn’t comply. They also forced her to take two hypertension pills every day since she was found to have high blood pressure.
Other practitioners held in Division 12 were also subjected to various forms of abuse. Ms. Tian Xiumei in particular had cold water poured into her shoes and was forced to stand next to an open window wearing a thin layer of clothes. She was also not allowed to sleep at night. For more than ten days straight, the inmates monitoring her abused her nonstop. She was later diagnosed with diabetes. She had head tremors and her legs became extremely swollen. The inmates ordered her to take some unknown medications, but she refused to.
Ms. Tian, Ms. Zhao and other practitioners were also forced to watch videos smearing Falun Gong and its founder every morning and write thought reports every afternoon for one month. They were not allowed to talk to each other, receive family visits, or purchase daily necessities. After the one-month period, they were forced to go through evaluation to see if they had renounced their faith. The guards video-recorded the evaluation process.
Two Liaoning Women, 68 and 66, Sentenced to Prison for Their Faith in Falun Gong