(Minghui.org) Ten Falun Gong practitioners in Changde City, Hunan Province, were sentenced to prison for their faith on November 12, 2025. Their appeals are pending.
Ms. Wang Xiaoqun, 76, was sentenced to 5 years and fined 8,000 yuan.Ms. Li Dongzhi was sentenced to 4 years and fined 6,000 yuan.Mr. Li Weiyun and Ms. Yin Hong, 54, were sentenced to 3 years and 9 months and fined 6,000 yuan.Ms. Liu Xianju, 64, and Ms. Yao Zhou, 53, and an employee of the Wuling District Tax Bureau, were both sentenced to 3 years and 6 months and fined 5,000 yuan.Ms. Yang Biqiong, 73, was sentenced to 3 years and fined 5,000 yuan.Mr. Yang Guiming was sentenced to 2.5 years with 3 years probation and fined 4,000 yuan.Ms. You Chuyun was sentenced to one year with 1.5 years of probation and fined 2,000 yuan.Ms. Dong Mingfang was sentenced to 9 months with one year of probation and fined 1,500 yuan.
The ten practitioners were among the over 30 locals arrested during a police sweep between 5 and 7 a.m. on November 30, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong. The practitioners’ homes were also ransacked.
Six of the over 30 practitioners were later taken to a local lockup, with two soon released due to their high blood pressure and four released after 10 or 15 days of detention. The rest of them, including the ten now-sentenced practitioners, were held at a brainwashing center located in Xin’an Middle School, a special school on juvenile behavior correction.
Ms. Liu, Ms. Yang, Ms. Yin, Ms. Yao, and Ms. Wang were later transferred to the Baiheshan Detention Center. Ms. You and Ms. Dong were released on bail. Ms. Yao’s, Mr. Li’s and Mr. Yang’s detention status is unclear.
The ten of them were later indicted by a local procuratorate and they were tried by the Taoyuan County Court on November 12, 2025. Ms. Wang, Ms. Yao and Ms. Liu argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. Mr. Li recounted how his health improved after he began practicing Falun Gong. Judges Jing Zhiheng, Long Zhijun and Zhang Wen convicted them at the end of the trial.
Prior to their latest sentencing, some of the practitioners have been repeatedly targeted for their faith in the past 26 years, spending decades behind bars.
Ms. Wang, a retired employee of the Changde City Bureau of Commerce, served two labor camp terms totaling 4 years. She was also sentenced to 7.5 years on May 18, 2006, four years on July 21, 2016 and 3.5 years on July 28, 2020, all by the Wuling District Court. She was released on March 23, 2023, only to be arrested eight months later and sentenced to another 5 years. Her total labor camp terms and prison sentences add up to 24 years.
Ms. Liu was arrested during a police sweep on December 16, 2009. She was later sentenced to ten years by the Changde City Court on November 4, 2010.
Ms. Yin used to work in a bank, but was later fired for upholding her faith. She was sentenced to 8 years on May 18, 2006 and 4 years on July 21, 2016, by the Wuling District Court.