(Minghui.org) Three women in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, were recently sentenced by the Xihu District Court because they practice Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Liu Yongying, 62, was sentenced to three years and three months and fined 10,000 yuan on July 15, 2025. Ms. Li Fenyu, 68, and Ms. Chen Dongmei, 67, were each given three years and two months and fined 7,000 on August 15, 2025.
Details of Ms. Liu’s Prosecution
Ms. Liu was arrested at home on August 21, 2024 by officers from multiple police agencies. Her husband and son, who do not practice Falun Gong, were also arrested and held in custody until 10 p.m.
The police took Ms. Liu to a brainwashing center the next day. Even though her blood pressure was over 200 mmHg (a normal range is 120 mmHg or lower), they had her admitted to the Nanchang City Second Detention Center on the third day.
Ms. Liu stood trial at the Xihu District Court on June 17, 2025. Her husband was not allowed to attend the hearing. After she was detained for nearly a year, Ms. Liu was very weak and struggled to walk into the courtroom. She was unable to sit on the defendant’s seat because of her heavy shackles. Only then did the judge allow the shackles to be removed.
The prosecution evidence included 138 amulets, which had information about Falun Gong inscribed on them, that were confiscated from Ms. Liu’s car, as well as items seized from her home, including 16 Falun Gong books and a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder.
Ms. Liu pointed out that the 138 amulets were confiscated from her during her previous arrest on April 2, 2018. They were used as evidence to get her sentenced to two years but the prosecutor used them again in this latest case. The amulets shown in court this time looked worn and the words were blurred.
Ms. Liu’s lawyer defended her constitutional right to practice and spread information about Falun Gong. The judge still sentenced her on July 15, 2025.
Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Liu served two labor camp terms for a total of five years, during which time she was beaten, verbally abused, force-fed, and forced to do intensive, unpaid labor. After her 2018 arrest, she was sentenced to two years and suffered abuse in prison similar to what she went through during her forced-labor terms.
When she was released on April 3, 2020, Ms. Liu was emaciated and staggered when she walked. Many of her teeth had fallen out as a result of the torture. She learned that her employer, the Jiangxi Civil Administration School, was ordered by higher-ups to fire her in May 2018 despite her being awarded “employee of the year” in 2015 and 2017. They later also refused to issue her pension benefits.
Ms. Liu Yongying before she was persecuted
Ms. Liu Yongying after enduring severe abuse in detention
Details of Ms. Li and Ms. Chen’s Prosecution
Ms. Li, born in April 1957, and Ms. Chen, born in October 1957, were arrested together on April 3, 2024, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The arresting officers from the Qingshanhu District Domestic Security Office took them to a brainwashing center located in the Qingyunpu District Court.
The vice head of the Nanchang City 610 Office introduced himself as Niu Xiaoqiang. Ms. Li and Ms. Liu found out later that his real name was Liu Zhibin. He personally established a “helper-team” aimed to force the two women to renounce Falun Gong. They were forced to watch videos that smeared Falun Gong, as well as clips of other Falun Gong practitioners being tortured at the Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison. He threatened to torture Ms. Li and Ms. Liu and later demanded they give him the deeds to their homes in exchange for their bail release.
Ms. Li and Ms. Liu were taken back into custody on March 13, 2025, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. They were taken to the Nanchang City Second Detention Center.
The same Xihu District Court tried Ms. Li and Ms. Liu on July 9, 2025 and sentenced them on August 15.
This is not the first time that the two practitioners have been targeted for their faith.
Ms. Li was widowed in December 1996 when her husband died of uremia. She struggled to care for their two young children and pay off their debts. Her health declined and her hair turned gray. She was unable to fall asleep. After she began practicing Falun Gong in May 1997, her health recovered and she was able to smile. After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, she held firm to her faith and was repeatedly targeted. Prior to her latest sentencing, she was given four forced labor terms for a total of eight years. She was brutally torture each time. See the related reports for details of her past persecution, as well as that of Ms. Liu’s.
Past Persecution of Ms. Chen
Ms. Chen, retired from the Nanchang City Leather Factory, was also repeatedly targeted for upholding her faith. She was given three forced labor terms totaling five and a half years over the past two decades.
Ms. Chen was arrested on September 1, 2004 and detained for 25 days. Her family had to pay 5,000 yuan of bail bond. After another arrest on May 28, 2005, she was given one and a half years of forced labor. As soon as she was admitted to the Jiangxi Province Women’s Labor Camp, she was subjected to “intensive training,” including being put in solitary confinement, beaten, and forced to watch videos that smeared Falun Gong, do military drills under the scorching sun (which didn’t stop until she fainted), and clean the bathrooms and workshop. When she refused to sing pro-CCP songs during the pre-meal line-up, the guard on duty forced her to stand for long hours and extend her term by three days.
She was also later forced to make medical gloves for nearly 12 hours every day. The workshop had no fans or air conditioning. It was hot and stuffy. Since talcum powder was used to test the gloves, the workshop was also filled with suffocating dust. After just one week of such work, she was covered in dense, red blisters. The itchiness was unbearable, and she scratched herself raw, unable to sleep. Later, the guards moved her to another team, where she was denied family visits and barred from purchasing snacks. She was also given the worst food the labor camp had to offer.
Ms. Chen was reading Falun Gong books together with a neighbor on the afternoon of June 30, 2010 when eight plainclothes officers from the Qingshanhu District Domestic Security Office broke in and held her to the ground. They handcuffed her so harshly that the cuffs cut her skin on her wrists. They returned the following night to raid her home a second time. Her daughter’s rental place was also raided that night. The police seized two computers, two cell phones, and one MP5 player.
Ms. Chen’s daughter was interrogated at a hotel until midnight that day. One officer took off his shoes and threatened to beat the younger woman. Ms. Chen was interrogated for 24 hours while being restrained in a chair and not given any food. The police didn’t allow her to doze off and often yanked her handcuffs to inflict more pain. Her right wrist bled and the marks from the injuries are still visible. The police captain whipped her thighs with his shoes and claimed he would have beaten her to death if it were not for her advanced age.
Ms. Chen was later given two years of forced labor and sent to the Jiangxi Province Women’s Labor Camp on July 30, 2010. During the required physical exam, she was found to have pneumonia. The labor camp refused to admit her but relented after the police negotiated with its director.
In ten days, Ms. Chen’s health quickly declined. She was unable to keep anything down. After another physical exam, she was released on medical parole. She was just skin and bones when her family picked her up. Through practicing Falun Gong, she made a full recovery.
Ms. Chen was arrested again on September 25, 2011, while distributing Falun Gong informational materials. After three months of detention, she was given two years of forced labor and admitted to the Jiangxi Province Women’s Labor Camp.
During the first three months, Ms. Chen was ordered to watch and read materials every day that slandered Falun Gong. When she refused, the team lead beat her face with the books and verbally abused her. He also ordered drug addicts to monitor her around the clock. She was not allowed to eat when she refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. She was later assigned to a production team and forced to do hard labor for long hours each day. She often fainted as a result. She was injured after taking a hard fall during a fainting episode, and an incisor tooth was knocked loose. She was unable to eat solid food but the guards did not allow her to receive medical care.
Ms. Chen and Ms. Li were arrested at Ms. Li’s home on April 10, 2018. Both women were released two days later. Ms. Li was arrested on September 10, 2020 and detained for an unknown amount of time. Ms. Chen was harassed and had her home raided in early February 2021. She was forced to live away from home for an unknown amount of time. She and Ms. Li were arrested on February 22, 2023, after they were reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. They were both detained for five days.
Related Reports:
Ms. Li Fenyu Tortured and Abused in Labor Camps for Eight Years
Ms. Liu Yongying Handcuffed to a Death Bed for 18 Days in Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp
Jiangxi Woman Fired and Deprived of Pension after Serving Two Years for Her Faith
Five Jiangxi Province Residents Detained Beyond Legally-Permissible Term for Their Faith
Two Jiangxi Women Arbitrarily Detained for Seven Months and Counting
Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners by Jiangxi Women's Forced Labor Camp
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