Liaoning Woman Arrested While on Bail Awaits Verdict for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Ms. Wang Liying from Jianping County, Liaoning Province, was arrested in Lingyuan City in the same province on May 9, 2025 but it’s not known where she is detained.

Ms. Wang’s was targeted because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that is persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. Her latest arrest stemmed from an earlier arrest on March 6, 2023, as she and her husband went through security checks at the Jianping County High-speed Railway Station. She was accompanying her husband to Beijing so he could have heart surgery.

Her husband was terrified by the sudden arrest and his heart condition relapsed. He was rushed to a hospital, and the police took Ms. Wang to the Chaoyang City Detention Center. They finally released her on bail on March 17, 2023.

The Jianping County Procuratorate indicted Ms. Wang on April 17, 2024, accusing her of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” the standard pretext used by the communist regime to frame and sentence Falun Gong practitioners.

As no lawyer in her region dared to defend Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Wang hired a friend to be her non-lawyer defender. The friend submitted an application to represent her to the Jianping County Court on June 17, 2024. Judge Zhang Jie refused to accept the application on the grounds that a few words were missing from it. The friend re-did everything and resubmitted the materials the next day.

As the hearing was scheduled for June 20, the friend requested to review the case file as soon as possible. Zhang, however, claimed that they needed time to discuss whether he’d be allowed to represent Ms. Wang. The friend followed up by making many calls to Zhang, but no one answered the phone. Zhang called him at 6 p.m. on June 19 and said his application was denied.

Ms. Wang thus had no legal representation during her hearing on June 20, 2024. She testified in her own defense and emphasized that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. Judge Zhang did not issue a ruling that day but ordered that Ms. Wang remain on bail.

To avoid a possible prison sentence, Ms. Wang made the difficult decision to go into hiding even though her husband needed her care.

While visiting another practitioner Mr. Cheng (first name unknown) in Lingyuan City on May 9, 2025, Ms. Wang was arrested together with Mr. Cheng and four other practitioners, including Ms. Liang Jinling, Ms. Song Shuzhi, Ms. Zhang Hongmei, and Ms. Wang Xiuyu. They were then taken to the Sanshijiazi Police Station. The police also raided their homes.

Ms. Wang’s family has not been notified of her detention location or her case status.