(Minghui.org) An 89-year-old woman in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, was notified by the Nanming District Court in April 2025 that she had been sentenced to one year in prison for telling others about the persecution of her faith, Falun Gong.
Ms. Wu Qingzhi’s ordeal stemmed from an arrest in August 2023 by officers from the Hetang Police Station. All of her Falun Gong books were confiscated during the home raid. She was held at the Sanjiang Detention Center for 32 days before being released on bail.
The Nanming District Court suddenly took Ms. Wu to court on September 3, 2024, for a hearing. The judge didn’t announce a verdict and ordered Ms. Wu to wait at home for the verdict.
A court staffer delivered the verdict to Ms. Wu in April 2025. Dated February 29, 2024, it stated that she was sentenced to one year with a 6,000-yuan fine. It’s not clear whether Ms. Wu has been taken into custody to serve time.
Prior to her sentencing, Ms. Wu has been harassed multiple times between 2021 and 2022 for her faith.
Several officers from the Sanqiao Police Station and residential committee knocked on Ms. Wu’s door for a long time on June 27, 2021, even though she wasn’t home at the time.
Gao Aiwu, the residential committee secretary, called Ms. Wu’s husband, Mr. Yuan Qirong, the next day and ordered him to stay home. Three officers from the Jinya Police Station came shortly after, took photos of their home, and ordered the elderly couple not to go out. Mr. Yuan refused to comply.
Four officers from the Zhuchang Police Station broke into Ms. Wu’s home again at noon on June 15, 2022, and said she had been reported for distributing Falun Gong materials two weeks prior. They searched her place and confiscated some Falun Gong materials. They then took her to the police station, tied her up to a metal chair, and interrogated her. They also forced her to fingerprint certain documents. She was released at around 9 p.m.
Recent Persecution Cases of Elderly Falun Gong Practitioners in Guiyang City
In recent years, the authorities in Guiyang have shown no leniency in persecuting elderly Falun Gong practitioners. One practitioner died in the detention center, seven were sentenced, and two stood trials with no clear outcome.
77-Year-Old Woman Dies in Custody, Body Cremated Without Family’s Consent
Ms. Zhou Guixiang was arrested on May 27, 2022, and released on bail the next day. She was issued a formal arrest warrant and taken back into custody on August 23, 2023. When her lawyer visited her at the Guiyang City Women’s Detention Center in early August 2024, he noted that she appeared emaciated. She said she was found to have tumors in her liver and intestines not long before. The detention center guards, however, took her back from the hospital without allowing her to have further examinations. The detention center’s own in-house clinic could not perform a biopsy, so it was unclear whether the growths were cancerous.
Ms. Zhou died in the detention center on October 23, 2024, before the lawyer’s request to have her released on bail was processed. The authorities forbade her family from arranging a wake for her and cremated her body without her family’s consent. She was 77 years old.
Seven Sentencing Cases of Practitioners in Their 70s and 80s
Ms. Rao Jiyu, 95, was indicted by the Nanming District Procuratorate in March 2022. She was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and a 10,000-yuan fine on December 13, 2022.
Ms. Yao Qiuyuan, 76, was sentenced to three years and fined 10,000 yuan in February 2023, for distributing Falun Gong materials. She is now serving time in the Guizhou Province Women’s Prison.
Three elderly woman were sentenced to prison in December 2023. Ms. Wang Guoxiu, in her 70s, was given two and a half years. Ms. Jin Yunbin, 85, and Ms. Zhang Changyun, in her 80s, were each given two years. All three were allowed to serve time outside of prison.
Mr. Jiang Chaolin, an 83-year-old retired physician, and Ms. Wu Daofen, 81, were each sentenced to 4.5 years around May 2024. Ms. Wu is serving time at the Guizhou Province Women’s Prison and Mr. Jiang is jailed at the Dujun Prison.
Two Cases of Unclear Status
Ms. Tian Deyu, 82 and a retired employee of the Guiyang Power Company, was arrested on October 18, 2023, for distributing Falun Gong materials. She appeared in the Nanming District Court in April 2024. It’s not clear whether a verdict has been announced. Before her latest arrest, she was sentenced to three years in December 2017.
Ms. Li Xiulan, 77, appeared in the Nanming District Court in February, March, and April of 2024. At one point, she was taken to the Sanjiang Prison, but was released soon after due to her poor health. She went missing in May 2024 and it’s unclear whether she was sentenced and taken back into custody.
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