(Minghui.org) A native of Langfang City, Hebei Province, was sentenced to one year in prison on May 16, 2025, by a court in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yang Guijuan, 57, did odd jobs in Haiyan County, Jiaxing City. After being followed, she was arrested by more than ten officers from the Shendang Police Station on October 12, 2024, for talking to people about Falun Gong. Her Falun Gong books, cellphone, and computer were confiscated, and she was held at the Jiaxing City Detention Center.
Ms. Yang’s family learned in February 2025 that she had been indicted by the Tongxiang City Procuratorate. Tongxiang is under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing.
During a pre-trial hearing, Ms. Yang’s family defender raised three requests: 1) Call the witnesses to court to be cross examined; 2) Exclude the police-supplied authentication of prosecution evidence (as only an independent, third-party agency is authorized to verify evidence); 3) Present in court the “Announcement 50” issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication on March 1, 2011, lifting the ban on Falun Gong books. The presiding judge did not make a decision right away.
The day the trial was held, April 8, 2025, a cordon was set up outside the Tongxiang City Court. A SWAT vehicle and an unmarked police car were parked near the entrance. Three police officers stood guard and a table was set up to conduct security checks on anyone who entered the building.
About 20 young people, who had no relation to Ms. Yang, were seen in the gallery. After the hearing began, the judge announced that he would deny all three requests that Ms. Yang’s family defender made at the pre-trial meeting. He also ruled against the family defender’s request during the hearing to have the prosecutor present the actual prosecution evidence.
Ms. Yang recounted how she had fainted several times since her arrest, and had stomachaches. During the more than twenty days she was held in a police hospital, she was handcuffed and shackled to a hospital bed. The day before the court hearing, she was taken back to the detention center but she was not notified of the trial.
Ms. Yang also shared how practicing Falun Gong benefited her. She said that she hadn’t violated any laws by practicing her faith or distributing informational materials about it. While she was detained at the detention center, the inmates all bullied her in the beginning, but her kindness eventually touched them and won their respect. The judge kept interrupting her. He also cut her off as she was giving her final statement. When she insisted on finishing her statement, she was dragged out of the courthouse.
The judge sentenced Ms. Yang to a one-year prison term on May 16, 2025, and her appeal was rejected by the Jiaxing City Intermediate Court. The Minghui.org website confirmed in early July 2025 that she had been admitted to the Zhejiang Province Women’s Prison in the capital city of Hangzhou.
Related Report:
Woman From Hebei Tried in Zhejiang Province for Practicing Falun Gong
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
