(Minghui.org) A woman in Zhaoyuan County, Heilongjiang Province, was sentenced to three and a half years in January 2026 for her faith in Falun Gong. Due to health issues, she is serving time outside of prison.
Ms. Zhang Lihua was arrested at home on January 7, 2025, by about 20 officers from the Zhaoyuan Farm Police Department. They suspected her of having distributed Falun Gong informational materials and raided her home. Her Falun Gong books, laptop, and other valuables were confiscated.
The police next took Ms. Zhang to the Suihua City Agricultural Reclamation Group, which oversees Zhaoyuan Farm, for a physical exam. She was deemed unfit for detention and was denied admission to the local detention center. They released her the next day.
Her case was submitted to the Suihua City Agricultural Reclamation Group Procuratorate in early July 2025. The police took Ms. Zhang there to sign the paperwork. She refused to comply and was taken home. About ten days later, the police drove her to the Suihua City Agricultural Reclamation Group for another physical exam. She was still deemed unfit for detention and denied admission to the local detention center. The police had to take her home again.
Ms. Zhang was indicted in early November 2025 and her case was forwarded to the Suihua City Agricultural Reclamation Group Court. When the police took her to the court, a clerk asked if she intended to hire a lawyer. She said she did not and refused to sign any paperwork. She was then sent home.
The Qiqihar City Court sentenced Ms. Zhang to three and a half years in January 2026. Qiqihar, also in Heilongjiang Province, is adjacent to Suihua. It is unclear why Qiqihar took over her case.
Both before and after she was sentenced, Ms. Zhang was taken to the Harbin City Hospital multiple times for physical exams. Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang Province.
Ms. Zhang was deemed unfit for detention after each exam, so the court ordered her to serve time outside of prison.
Zhaoyuan County is about 250 miles from Suihua and 100 miles from Harbin. Traveling to those two cities for physical exams exhausted Ms. Zhang. She is currently extremely weak and emaciated. Because the police kept harassing her at home, she lived under constant stress.
A Prior 3-Year Sentence
Ms. Zhang was arrested in March 2008, just prior to the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Officers Liu Mobo, Liu Guangtao, and Zhang Xiaolong from the Zhaoyuan Farm Police Department also raided her home. She was forced to pay a fine and was released at an unknown time.
February 9, 2009, was the Lantern Festival (the end of the Chinese New Year holiday season). That day, Ms. Zhang distributed Falun Gong materials to people watching celebratory fireworks. Officer Liu Guangtao and agents from the Zhaoyuan Farm 610 Office seized her and raided her home. She was taken to the Suihua City Agricultural Reclamation Group Detention Center days later on February 11.
The Suihua City Agricultural Reclamation Group Court sentenced Ms. Zhang to three years on April 24, 2009. She served her time in the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison.
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