(Minghui.org) An internist in Haicheng City, Liaoning Province, was sentenced to three years on October 23, 2025, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that the Chinese Communist Party has persecuted since July 1999. The authorities refused to release her on medical parole even when she suffers from life-threatening high blood pressure.
Dr. Zhao Junfang, 63, was arrested on May 28, 2025, and issued a formal arrest warrant on June 11 by the Lishan District Procuratorate. She was taken to the Anshan City First Women’s Detention Center. Her family learned in July 2025 that she had developed high blood pressure in custody, with her systolic reading reaching 213 mmHg at one point (when a normal range is 120 or lower).
The police submitted the case to the procuratorate on July 23, 2025. Dr. Zhao’s lawyer requested her release, but was rejected by both the police officer in charge and the detention center director, Zhao Hongbo (no relation).
Prosecutor Zhang Yi indicted Dr. Zhao on August 18, 2025. During a visit with her lawyer, Dr. Zhao said that she had bleeding on three occasions and was taken to an outside hospital for examination. The doctors said she had severe HPV infection and recorded a systolic blood pressure reading of 226 mmHg.
Dr. Zhao stood trial at the Lishan District Court on October 21, 2025. Her family was shocked when hearing her recount her health conditions. They rushed to the detention center after the hearing to request a copy of her medical records and demand her release on bail. A guard said that one must have had the medical condition for at least six months before a bail request can be considered.
The family asked to see detention center officials. The guard said the higher-ups were having a meeting and couldn’t meet with them. They waited for more than two hours and were still unable to talk to anyone in charge.
Judge Wang Yihan sentenced Dr. Zhao to three years on October 23, 2025. She is likely still held at the detention center.
This is not the first time that Dr. Zhao has been targeted for her faith, which she took up in 1998 and credits with curing her numerous diseases. She was previously arrested around March 6, 2001, and detained for an unknown amount of time. After another arrest on November 11, 2003, Dr. Zhao was sentenced to four years in March 2004 and served time at the Dabei Prison in the capital city of Shenyang. The guards instigated the inmates to beat her every day, injuring her eyes, face, and legs. She was hospitalized at one point.
Dr. Zhao was arrested again on November 17, 2015, and sentenced to another four years on March 29, 2016. She was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison and again brutally tortured. See the second related report for an account of her ordeal.
Related Reports:
Twice Jailed for a Total of Eight Years, Liaoning Internist Faces Prosecution for Her Faith Again
Liaoning Woman Repeatedly Beaten During Four Years of Imprisonment for Her Faith
Liaoning Provincial Women's Prison Uses Prisoners to Persecute Practitioners
The Liaoning Province Women's Prison's Methods of Persecution and Abuse of Falun Dafa Practitioners
Women's Prison in Liaoning Province Continues to Torture Falun Dafa PractitionersThe Brutal Treatment of Women Detained in Liaoning Women's Prison
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