(Minghui.org) A Jilin City, Jilin Province resident was sentenced to one and a half years around March 2025 for exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of her faith, Falun Gong.
Ms. Yao Yan is currently serving time at the Jilin Province Women’s Prison, located in the capital city of Changchun.
Sentencing Stems from Initial Arrest in 2023
Ms. Yao was arrested on April 25, 2023, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in a residential area. The arresting officers from the Changchun Road Police Station turned her over to the Zhihe Police Station, which raided her home the next day and confiscated her ID, several Dafa pendants, 15-yuan paper currency printed with Falun Gong messages, and a ream of copy paper. That afternoon, the police ordered Ms. Yao to sign a bail form. She refused, but was still released on bail.
The police returned Ms. Yao’s ID when she went to the Zhihe Police Station on April 29, 2023 to seek its return.
Two officers from the Changchun Road Police Station took Ms. Yao to the Chuanying District Procuratorate on May 18, 2023. She was sent back home at around 5 p.m. In order to avoid further persecution, Ms. Yao went into hiding and the police notified her family in July 2023 that she had been put on the wanted list.
Failed Arrest in April 2024
Three officers from the Chuanying District Police Department showed up at Ms. Yao’s home after 7 p.m. on April 17, 2024. Her husband and son refused to open the door. About 30 minutes later, the police called in a locksmith to break in.
A deputy captain surnamed He held a pair of handcuffs and another officer carried a body-cam. A third officer, who appeared to be older, was also in plainclothes like the first two.
Captain He produced his ID but the other two didn’t. They demanded to know Ms. Yao’s whereabouts. Her husband replied that she had not returned home for a month. Captain He then searched Ms. Yao’s son’s personal cell phone before demanding to see his business phone as well. He said his business phone was in his shop.
The three officers searched every inch of the home, including under the bed and the shoe cabinet. Captain He threatened to send Ms. Yao to jail if her son refused to reveal her whereabouts. He showed Ms. Yao’s son the information about her on their online wanted list and said she could be arrested anywhere.
Ms. Yao’s husband condemned the police for harassing law-abiding citizens. One officer replied, “You have a Falun Gong [practitioner] in your family and you still complain about us staying at your home?” After a while, captain He said he got notice from his supervisor that they could leave in half an hour. Before leaving, they told Ms. Yao’s husband that the locksmith had replaced the lock on his door. They didn’t say whether they’d kept a copy of the new key.
Arrested Again in September 2024
Ms. Yao was taken back into custody on the morning of September 8, 2024 by officers from the Changyi District Police Department. They took her to the Jilin City Detention Center the next day.
Her family only recently learned of her prison sentence.
Related Report:
19 Falun Gong Practitioners in Jilin City Bring Criminal Charges Against Jiang Zemin
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