(Minghui.org) Three women in Longkou City, Shandong Province, have been admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison, after losing their appeals against wrongful sentences because they practice Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Cui Xiuju, around 70, Ms. Luan Yanping, in her 50s, and Ms. Li Yufang, around 70, were arrested on July 17, 2025, while talking to people about Falun Gong at the Xufudawang Community Fair.
The practitioners were issued formal arrest warrants on August 8. The Longkou City Police Department submitted their cases to the Longkou City Procuratorate on August 18. Prosecutor Lyu Shasha indicted all three four days later. When the practitioners’ family defenders asked Lyu why she acted so quickly on the cases, even before they had submitted their paperwork and legal opinions, she responded, “What’s wrong with processing the cases quickly? We finish working on some cases in just one or two days.”
By law, the procuratorate has one month to investigate a case and make a fully informed decision as to whether to indict a suspect. Prosecutor Lyu indicted the practitioners in just four days without reviewing the family defenders’ defense statements.
On September 30, 2025, Ms. Luan’s family submitted an application to the Shandong Provincial Public Security Bureau, demanding to know the legal basis for the prosecution. The Longkou City Police Department responded on October 31, 2025, saying that such information was “confidential” and they “aren’t authorized” to provide it as open information.
The practitioners appeared at the Longkou City Court on January 23, 2026. Only two family members of each practitioner were allowed to attend the session. When the practitioners’ family defenders requested that the practitioners’ handcuffs be removed, presiding judge, Zhao Yu, refused the request, claiming that the detention center guards put the handcuffs on and the court didn’t have the keys.
The family defenders demanded that prosecutor Lyu and judge Zhao be recused from the case, because the defendants had previously filed complaints against them, creating a conflict of interest. Judge Zhao denied the request, with the argument that it “does not fall under the circumstances stipulated by law.” When the family defenders asked how this could be, Zhao refused to answer and only asked if they heard her clearly.
Judge Zhao repeatedly interrupted the family defenders when they were presenting their statements. She later prevented them from asking the defendants any questions. When the family defenders asked the court clerk to make a correction to the court proceedings, the clerk responded, “You should mind your own business and not interfere with others. Other people’s work has nothing to do with you.”
During the cross-examination stage, prosecutor Lyu didn’t present any actual items in court or call any of the five prosecution witnesses to the stand.
The judge convicted all three practitioners on March 13, 2026. Ms. Cui and Ms. Luan were both given three years and nine months, with a 20,000-yuan fine. Ms. Li was sentenced to two and a half years and fined 10,000 yuan.
Ms. Luan and Ms. Li appealed with the Yantai City Intermediate Court. Judge Wu Guoyan accepted the case on April 20, 2026, but he barred the practitioners’ family defenders from reviewing or copying the case documents. He ruled to uphold the practitioners’ original verdicts on May 18, 2026, before their family defenders had the chance to submit the defense statements. The family defenders weren’t notified of the ruling until June 18.
Qiu Guangzhou, an assistant to the judge at the Longkou City Court, “encouraged” the family defenders to “prepare evidence for communication with the appeals court judge,” without mentioning that the appeals had already been turned down.
Ms. Luan and Ms. Li were transferred to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on June 21 and 23, respectively. Ms. Cui was admitted to the prison at an earlier time because she hadn’t file an appeal.
All three practitioners were abused while they were held at the detention center. Ms. Cui’s systolic blood pressure reached an extremely high level of 290 mmHg, when a normal level is 120 mmHg or lower. She was in a delirious state. Ms. Luan also had a dangerously high blood pressure, and her systolic pressure reading was 200 mmHg. Ms. Li had a stomach condition; she felt cold and had lost a lot of weight.
Related Reports:
Three Shandong Women Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong, Denied Due Process
Longkou, Shandong Province: 12 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day, 4 Indicted
70-Year-Old Woman Faces Prosecution for Her Faith, Family Works Tirelessly to Seek Her Release
Copyright © 1999-2026 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
