After 9.5 Years of Prior Incarceration, 71-Year-Old Woman Gets Another Three Years for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province resident was sentenced to three years on April 21, 2025, for her faith in Falun Gong, Minghui.org learned recently.

Ms. Xia Ning, 71, was arrested at noon on November 5, 2024, while distributing calendars bearing information about Falun Gong. She was first given 15 days of administrative detention and then transferred to the Huludao City Detention Center for criminal detention.

Prosecutor Zhou Huisheng of the Lianshan District Procuratorate, assisted by Yu Bo, indicted Ms. Xia on January 8, 2025.

Ms. Xia appeared in the Lianshan District Court on March 25, 2025. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. He argued that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China and that his client caused no harm to anyone; she merely wanted to practice her faith and raise awareness about the ongoing persecution.

The presiding judge, Wang Lianting, sentenced Ms. Xia to three years with a 20,000-yuan fine on April 21, 2025. Two other judges, Zhang Lixin and Chang Yongchen, also signed her verdict.

Since the onset of the persecution in 1999, Ms. Xia has been repeatedly arrested and detained. She was given a 3-year labor camp term in 2004 and another 2-year labor camp term in 2008. Following an arrest in July 2017, she was sentenced to 4.5 years several months later. See the related report below for a detailed account of the persecution and torture that Ms. Xia suffered during each detention.

Related Report:

Relentless Torture Could Not Shake Liaoning Woman’s Faith in Falun Dafa – Ms. Xia Ning’s Story