(Minghui.org) A 55-year-old woman in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, was admitted to the Yunnan Province Women’s Second Prison on April 17, 2025 to serve a 3.5-year term because she practices Falun Gong.
Ms. Yuan Yiqun was arrested at 10:30 a.m. on August 8, 2024, as soon as she opened the door for her 80-year-old mother, who just returned home from grocery shopping. More than ten plainclothes officers from the Jinsha Police Station, the Donghua Police Station, and the Panlong District Domestic Security Office seized her. Her mother was so terrified that she had a relapse of her heart condition and was rushed to the hospital.
The police took Ms. Yuan to the Kunming City Police Department. She stood trial at the Xishan District Court on January 20, 2025 and was later sentenced to three and a half years and fined 10,000 yuan. She appealed and the Kunming City Intermediate Court ruled against her without holding a hearing. She was transferred from the Kunming City Detention Center to the Yunnan Province Women’s Second Prison on April 17, 2025.
This is not the first time that Ms. Yuan, who has an associate’s degree and used to work at a large state-owned enterprise, has been targeted for her faith. She was previously arrested on January 8, 2015 and sentenced to three years on August 12 that year. She served time at the Yunnan Province Women’s Second Prison.
After Ms. Yuan was released on January 8, 2018, the police often harassed her at home. One day her mother, who had severe heart conditions and Parkinson’s disease, told her that the police knocked on their door again and she almost had a relapse of her heart condition. Ms. Yuan booked an appointment with chief Yu Jianping of the Jinsha Police Station and met with him the next day. She showed her mother’s medical records and urged him to stop harassing her. The harassment episodes reduced after that. One night several uniformed officers knocked on her door again and she called Yu, who then instructed his subordinates to leave.
Ms. Yuan was arrested again on October 15, 2019 and taken to the Kunming City Detention Center. She was not released until early 2020. Yu led two officers to her home soon after she was released and ordered her to go to their police station to be deposed. They also turned on their body-cams to record the conversation. Ms. Yuan reminded them that her lawyer said the police harassment of her was illegal and Yu asked to have the lawyer talk to them.
When Yu’s two officers attempted to take pictures of Ms. Yuan she went inside and locked the door. To avoid further persecution, she lived away from home for a while. Her mother called her to say that Yu led two people to their home again.
After Ms. Yuan returned home, Yu instructed her property management office to monitor her, starting in March 2022. As soon as she stepped out of the door, she was followed by police officers and/or property management workers wherever she went. She could no longer endure it and went to the property management office on May 17, 2024 to file a complaint.
Manager Yang was not in. A security officer and two uniformed police officers were there. Ms. Yuan called Yang and he directed her to talk to manager Cui. Cui said that the property management office had to cooperate with the police in monitoring her.
Ms. Yuan urged Cui to stop participating in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. He then grabbed his cell phone to record the conversation. Ms. Yuan explained how Falun Gong is practiced around the world and how the communist regime fabricated evidence to frame Falun Gong and ordered state-sanctioned organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.
A group of officers suddenly showed up and said they received a tip reporting Ms. Yuan. Cui denied having reported her. Chief Yu also came. An officer surnamed Sun with a badge number 014281 ordered Ms. Yuan to get into their cruiser.
Ms. Yuan was taken to the Jinsha Police Station for interrogation. Yu asked if she still practiced Falun Gong and she replied that the Constitution protects her right to freedom of belief. When she reminded him that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong he exclaimed that he sold his soul to the communist regime.
Yu then instructed one of his officers to keep interrogating Ms. Yuan, while he video-recording the whole process.
Yu returned with several pre-prepared statements denouncing Falun Gong. Ms. Yuan refused to sign. She was released around 3 p.m. that afternoon.
Ms. Yuan called manager Yang at 3 p.m. on May 18, 2024. He hung up the first time but picked up the phone the second time. He denied having installed a surveillance camera in her apartment building but admitted their monitoring system was connected to the police system. Less than 10 minutes after the call, chief Yu and an officer with a badge number 001241 knocked on Ms. Yuan’s door. She did not open the door but saw from her ring camera that they knocked from 3:07 to 3:16 p.m.
The police eventually arrested Ms. Yuan again on August 8, 2024 and had her sentenced to three and a half years.
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