(Minghui.org) A 58-year-old native of Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province stood trial on April 29, 2025 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Yao Jiaxiu credits Falun Gong, which she took up in October 1995, for curing her nine diseases and saving her marriage. She held firm to her faith after the persecution began four years later and was repeatedly arrested, resulting in two prison terms totaling 12 years. She had to live away from home for extended periods of time on several occasions to avoid further persecution.
Ms. Yao’s latest trial stemmed from a failed arrest of her on August 8, 2019, while she was living in Xichang City, Sichuan Province. She was not in, and the police arrested her older son Mr. Yao Jinhong. They next went to the capital city of Chengdu to arrest her younger son, Mr. Gong Jinjun, who later moved to Japan and is seeking justice for his mother following her latest arrest.
The police kept the two brothers at the Xichang City Detention Center and ordered them to reveal their mother’s whereabouts. Ms. Yao went into hiding and was put on the wanted list.
The Jiangyang District Police Department in Luzhou City (also in Sichuan Province) seized Ms. Yao from her rental place on September 20, 2024. She was taken to the Xichang City Detention Center nine days later.
Her case was submitted to the Xichang City Procuratorate on December 16, 2024, and she appeared in the Xichang City Court on April 29, 2025.
Prosecutor Yue Nan accused Ms. Yao of violating Article 300 of the Criminal Law, which states that those using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Ms. Yao argued that no enacted law in China has ever criminalized Falun Gong or labeled it as a cult. Furthermore, her exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief caused no harm to anyone or the society at large.
Prosecutor Yue cited as prosecution evidence “confessions” given by Ms. Yao’s older son following his arrest on August 8, 2019. Ms. Yao said that her son, a germophobe, couldn’t stand being kept in a cell with more than a dozen inmates and given very poor food to eat. The police’s threat to put him in jail further crushed him. As such, the “confessions” extracted from him should be inadmissible in her trial.
Yue accused Ms. Yao of being a “repeat offender,” as she had been twice sentenced to a total of 12 years in the past. She retorted that those two prison sentences, along with other earlier persecution of her, should have never happened in the first place because it was totally legal to practice Falun Gong in China. She also shared how the repeated persecution of her (details presented later) traumatized her two sons, who grew up in fear.
Ms. Yao’s lawyer testified against the police for fabricating evidence. The police alleged that they confiscated from Ms. Yao’s rental place 9,000-yuan in paper currency printed with Falun Gong messages. While it was completely legal for Falun Gong practitioners to use creative means (such as printing Falun Gong messages on paper currency) to raise awareness of the persecution, Ms. Yao did not have said paper currency in her rental place. She did have Falun Gong books, but those were her lawful assets and caused no harm to anyone.
It is unclear when presiding judge Jiang Tao will issue a ruling. Judges Wang Xuemei and Wang Tao, as well as assistants Liu and Bai, were also present at the trial.
The rest of the report covers Ms. Yao’s past persecution.
Three Arrests Months Apart in 1999
Ms. Yao went to Beijing on October 15, 1999 to appeal for Falun Gong and was arrested. After being brought back to Panzhihua City, she was detained for ten days. She returned to Beijing on November 8 of that year and was arrested again and detained for 15 days.
Ms. Yao and her husband went to the Panzhihua municipal government to appeal for Falun Gong on December 23, 1999 and were both arrested. She was held at the Panzhihua City Detention Center for one month and her husband at an unknown facility for 13 days.
Sentenced to 3 Years Following Arrest in 2000
Ms. Yao was deceived into reporting to the Wushiyi Police Station on July 16, 2000. She was arrested upon arrival and taken to the Renhe District Police Department for interrogation. Officers Liu Guichuan and Zhang Hongtai next took her to the Panzhihua City Detention Center.
Ms. Yao did the Falun Gong exercises on July 25, 2000 and was brutally beaten by guard Hu Xiaochuan. He chained her and two other practitioners, Ms. Luo Yuanchao and Ms. Hou Qinying, together using two sets of 100-pound heavy shackles and two pairs of handcuffs. He forced the trio to walk laps in the courtyard under the scorching sun. Ms. Yao’s right foot bled heavily after the flesh rubbed against the shackles. Ms. Luo’s left ankle also bled.
Guard Hu instructed eight male inmates and one female inmate named Sun Ping to force-feed the three practitioners. Sun knelt on Ms. Yao’s stomach, pinched her nose and poured high-salt flour paste into her mouth. Sun used a screwdriver to pry open Ms. Luo’s mouth, knocking out two of her incisors.
That afternoon, the three practitioners were shackled and handcuffed separately. Ms. Yao had on her feet 40-pound shackles, which were linked to her handcuffs. She couldn’t stand or straighten her back. The guards didn’t remove the handcuffs and shackles until one month later.
The Renhe District Court in Panzhihua City sentenced Ms. Yao to three years on June 7, 2001. Her appeal was later rejected. In mid-July 2001, guard Zeng Xiaomin slapped her in the face more than ten times when she requested to have a copy of her appeals ruling.
Abused in Prison
Ms. Yao was admitted to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison (located in Jianyang City) on August 13, 2001. She refused to wear the inmates’ uniform, and guard Wu Juxian instructed about eight prisoners to beat her. They also cuffed her to the bed frame (see image below) for about two hours. She suffered excruciating pain and struggled to breathe. She was made to go through the same torture again later in the evening and the guards did not remove the handcuffs until the next morning.
Torture reenactment: cuffed to a bed frame
In August 2002, the prison intensified the persecution of steadfast practitioners. They were forced to stand outside under the scorching sun, deprived of sleep and subjected to various forms of brutal torture.
Ms. Yao was released on July 15, 2003.
Forced into Displacement
After Ms. Yao’s release, she faced constant harassment at home by the local police and street committee. Sometimes they came three times a day, severely disrupting her family’s life. She had to stay away from home for a period of time.
Arrested Again in 2005 and Sentenced to 9 Years
Ms. Yao and four other practitioners, including Ms. Li Daizhen, Mr. Xiao Huizai, and Mr. You Yuanzhang, were arrested on November 24, 2005, by officers from the Panzhihua City Police Department. They were taken to the Panzhihua City Detention Center that evening. Ms. Yao yelled “Falun Dafa is good” and a guard surnamed Zhang punched her on the face so hard that she was knocked to the ground.
A group of officers from the Panzhihua City Police Department took Ms. Yao to a hotel for interrogation on January 5, 2006. Officers Zou Yongjun and Huang Jianjun shacked her feet and hung her up from a hotel room window, with her feet barely touching the ground (see image below). Huang rolled up a thick fabric to whip her face. He also put a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder under her feet, another one in her pant waist and a third in her collar. He spewed foul language, attacking the founder of Falun Gong.
Torture illustration: hung up from window frame
Despite the excruciating pain that Ms. Yao suffered, the police kept lifting her up, with her feet eventually totally off the ground. They then interrogated her and grabbed her hands to press her fingerprints onto the interrogation records.
Ms. Yao was brought back to the detention center two days later. She went on a hunger strike to protest the police’s interrogation with torture. During her hunger strike from January 7 to 28, 2006, she was restrained in a bed in a spread-eagle position and force-fed multiple times.
The Dong District Court in Panzhihua City tried Ms. Yao and Mr. Xiao on June 26, 2006 and convicted them in a few days. Ms. Yao was given nine years and Mr. Xiao three and a half years. Their appeals were rejected by the Panzhihua City Intermediate Court.
The court then ordered a medical evaluation of Ms. Yao and claimed that she had a mental illness. She was released ten days later to serve time outside of prison.
Committed to Mental Hospital
Around late August 2007, the authorities pressured Ms. Yao’s husband to commit her to the Panzhihua City Psychiatric Hospital, even though she had no diagnosed mental illness.
The local 610 Office instructed the hospital officials to keep Ms. Yao there until further notice.
Ms. Yao was often tied up and injected with toxic drugs that damaged her central nervous system. She was not released until more than four months later.
Admitted to Prison, Repeatedly Abused
Ms. Yao was taken back into custody on July 14, 2008 and admitted to the Chengdu City Women’s Prison three days later to serve the remainder of her nine-year term.
Around July 19, 2008, captain Zhao Wenjuan instructed prisoners Sun Xiaohong, Wang Yongzhen, and others to hold Ms. Yao down to cut her hair. They also stripped her to her undergarments and tried to put a uniform on her. She refused to comply and had to wear her undergarments for about three weeks. The guards eventually returned some of her clothes.
Ms. Yao did the Falun Gong exercises in August 2008, and the guards instructed inmates Tian Suxiang to torture her. Tian stabbed her hands and feet with a needle, punched her in the chest, and poured water over her head. She kept doing the exercises, and Tian beat her hands with a bamboo stick. Her hands became swollen.
In early December 2008, guard Zhu Yan instructed the prisoners to remove Ms. Yao’s clothes and paint the prison uniform mark on her body. Inmate Sun Ju put her in a choke hold and didn’t loosen the grip until she almost passed out. Zhu then directed the inmates to cut her hair. Sun again put her in a choke hold, almost suffocating her. Zhu kept her handcuffed for a whole afternoon.
In June 2009, guards Yu Aiping and Shuang Kangying dragged Ms. Yao to their office and ripped the bed sheets that she had around her body (they had taken away her clothes so she covered herself with bed sheets). Guard Wen Xiujun then had people bring in some paint to paint the word “criminal” on her bra and underwear. Wen then took pictures of her and threatened to post them on the internet. Division head Yue Hong next instructed Zhu to handcuff Ms. Yao to a bed for a whole day.
Ms. Yao did the Falun Gong exercises around late June 2009 and had her hands cuffed behind her back by guard Zhu for three days. Zhu then cuffed her hands in the front for one month. She yelled “Falun Dafa is good,” and Zhu instructed inmate Zhou Yan to stuff her mouth with dirty rags. Zhou next grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the wall, threatening to kill her. Ms. Yao fainted from the hit.
On May 17 and 19, 2010, guard Zan Hong cuffed Ms. Yao to a door frame for about ten hours each day. Guard Zhu later cuffed her the same way for six days.
At around 9 a.m. on October 2, 2010, Ms. Yao started doing the Falun Gong exercises and had all of her food items taken away by inmate Wang Jingqiang. Guard Zhu used two pairs of handcuffs to cuff her hands to the top bunk of a bed for three hours.
Ms. Yao yelled “Falun Dafa is good” at around 4 p.m. on October 10, 2010. She then started doing the Falun Gong exercises. Inmates Wang Xuan and Chen Zhanhua held her down, and inmate Yao Guohong kicked her. They also stuffed her mouth with dirty rags and pinched her lips.
The same episode happened at around 4:30 p.m. on November 24, 2010. Inmates Wang and Chen held Ms. Yao down on the bed, with Wang sitting on her and covered her nose with dirty socks. She struggled to get up, only to be knocked down again and have her mouth covered.
Wang revealed that the guards directed them to torture Ms. Yao.
Around September 2011, Ms. Yao was shocked on the arms with electric batons by instructor Li Yurong for doing meditation. Li instructed several inmates to hang her up on the balcony. They didn’t let her down until two hours later. The hanging torture was later repeated, with her being hung up for eight days.
Ms. Yao was released a few months ahead of time, on February 23, 2014.
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Physical and Verbal Abuse Endured by Ms. Yao Jiaxiu at the Longquanyi Women's Prison in Chengdu City
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