(Minghui.org) A total of 41 cases of Falun Gong practitioners sentenced to prison for their faith were reported in January 2026.
Twenty-one (21) of the reported cases took place in 2025, and 20 happened in January 2026. Due to the Chinese Communist Party’s strict information censorship, news about the persecution isn’t always readily available, which causes delays in reporting.
The sentenced Falun Gong practitioners are from 14 provinces or centrally-controlled municipalities. Shandong reported the most cases (eight), followed by Jilin (seven), and Liaoning (six). Guangdong, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia each had three cases. Tianjin, Yunnan, and Chongqing each reported two cases. The remaining five regions—Fujian, Guizhou, Hebei, Hubei, and Sichuan—each had one case.
Prison terms ranged from seven months to six years, with an average of two years and ten months. Sixteen practitioners were fined a total of 242,000 yuan, averaging 15,125 yuan per person.
Among the 25 practitioners whose ages at the time of sentencing were known, ages ranged from 45 to 86, including three in their 40s, four in their 50s, 10 in their 60s, six in their 70s, and two in their 80s.
Selected cases are presented below.
Sentencing of Elderly Practitioners
84-Year-Old Woman Sentenced to Two Years and Five Months for Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Wang Xiuqin, 84 and of Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, was sentenced to two years and five months. She was arrested on February 12, 2025. The police raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and related materials. Due to Ms. Wang’s high blood pressure, she was released on house arrest.
Ms. Wang wrote to the police several times, demanding the return of her Falun Gong books. Surveillance cameras recorded her stepping outside of her home and going to the post office. Her letters to the police were intercepted.
Wei Fuyu, secretary of the Cangshan District Political and Legal Affairs Committee, ordered local officers to harass and monitor Ms. Wang. They installed surveillance cameras facing her apartment and put up posters slandering Falun Gong in many buildings in her neighborhood.
The police broke into Ms. Wang’s home on July 14, 2025, and took her to the hospital for a physical exam. She was admitted to the Fuzhou City Second Detention Center soon after.
The Cangshan District Police Department approved Ms. Wang’s arrest on August 21, 2025, and submitted her case to the Minqing County Procuratorate, using the surveillance videos and her letters to the police as evidence against her.
The Minqing Court Court appointed a lawyer to represent Ms. Wang. They didn’t inform her family of the hearing scheduled for October 9, 2025, until the day before. Ms. Wang was tried via a virtual hearing at the detention center. The judge convicted her in late January 2026.
Disabled 76-Year-Old Woman Sentenced to Three Years
Ms. Wei Dehui, 76 and with a disabled hand, was sent to prison to serve a three-year term. The resident of Weifang City, Shandong Province, was arrested in the early hours of October 22, 2019, when nine officers from the Nanguan Police Station broke into Ms. Wei’s home after breaking the lock on her door. Two officers held her down while the others raided her home.
The police cuffed Ms. Wei’s hands behind her back, pushed her into a cruiser, and took her to the police station. During the interrogation, they photographed her against her will, and collected her fingerprints and footprints. Ms. Wei was released that evening.
The police first put Ms. Wei on bail for one year but then changed her case status to “house arrest.” They completed the paperwork without her knowledge. Ms. Wei did not learn that she was facing prosecution until May 28, 2021, when the Weicheng District Procuratorate called her. The caller said that they had received her case on October 22, 2019, and ordered her to keep her cell phone on, so the police could contact her at any time. She refused to comply.
A police officer called Ms. Wei on May 31, 2021, and ordered her to meet with him at her home. She refused, but two officers came to her home hours later. Three officers returned the next morning and took Ms. Wei to the Weicheng District Procuratorate. A staffer there told her that she could hire a lawyer and that they would submit her case to the Kuiwen District Procuratorate, which had been designated to handle Falun Gong cases in the region.
A worker from the Kuiwen District Procuratorate called Ms. Wei on July 5, 2021, and ordered her to report to them two days later. She went there with her son and was ordered to sign paperwork listing the Falun Gong materials confiscated from her as prosecution evidence. Some of the materials were from her sister, who also practiced Falun Gong and who passed away in 2015 due to the persecution. Ms. Wei refused to sign the form.
Minghui.org confirmed in January 2026 that Ms. Wei was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison to serve a three-year term. Information about when she was sentenced and subsequently taken to prison is not available.
76-Year-Old Woman Given Second Prison Term for Her Faith, Days After Incapacitated Husband Dies
Ms. Li Derong, a 76-year-old retired senior auditor in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, was sentenced to four years and fined 10,000 yuan.
Her husband had been bedridden for four years before her arrest on October 15, 2025. Extremely worried about his wife, he suffered a rapid health decline. Before he died on December 9, 2025, his family applied to allow the couple to see each other one last time, but the court denied the request. Ms. Li was sentenced days later.
Ms. Li’s latest ordeal stems from her arrest in September 2022, after she was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. The police confiscated the Falun Gong materials from her bag and interrogated her. They also searched her home and confiscated three Falun Gong books. Ms. Li was released on bail in the evening. In an effort to close the case, the police arrested her again in 2025, and managed to build a case to have her sentenced.
Ms. Wan Wu, a 70-year-old resident of Meishan City, Sichuan Province, was sentenced to two years and ten months. She was arrested at home on May 13, 2025, along with her eight guests, also Falun Gong practitioners.
The Dongpo District Court tried Ms. Wan on December 18, 2025, and sentenced her at a later time. The status of her guests’ cases aren’t clear.
This is not the first time that Ms. Wan has been targeted for her faith. She previously served two forced labor terms and a prison term totaling 7.5 years.
Shortly after the communist regime started the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Ms. Wan went to Beijing to appeal for her right to freedom of belief, only to be arrested and taken back to her city. Ms. Wan’s employer suspended her pay during her two forced labor terms and on other occasions, before eventually terminating her. The police also harassed Ms. Wan and her family on a regular basis.
Ms. Wan was arrested in mid-September 2002, and was given three years of forced labor two months later. She served time at the Nanmusi Forced Labor Camp in Zizhong City, Sichuan Province.
While distributing Falun Gong materials in Jiajiang City, Sichuan Province, on September 8, 2009, Ms. Wan was arrested. She was given one year of forced labor in the same Nanmusi Labor Camp. After she was released on June 7, 2010, she was ordered to report to the police station once a month.
The police raided Ms. Wan’s home on July 7, 2014, and seized her Falun Gong books and materials, as well as some cash. The police threatened to jeopardize her son and daughter-in-law’s jobs if she refused to name other Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Wan appeared in the Dongpo District Court in December 2014 and was sentenced to three and a half years in April 2015. She was admitted to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison on May 4, 2015.
Repeated Persecution
61-Year-Old Yunnan Man Gets Another Five Years After Three Prior Prison Sentences Totaling 15 Years
Mr. Han Zhenkun, 61 and of Kunming City, Yunnan Province, was sentenced to five years and fined 50,000 yuan on December 26, 2025. He has filed an appeal.
Mr. Han was arrested in May 2025 and stood trial at the Wuhua District Court on December 1. The judge only allowed one of Mr. Han’s family members to attend the hearing. As he was being taken into the courthouse from a side entrance by eight bailiffs, he tried to greet family members who were blocked outside, but was stopped.
During the trial, Mr. Han’s lawyer asked why he held firm to his faith despite the ongoing persecution. He replied that he started practicing Falun Gong with his parents after seeing how it helped them regain their health. The judge stopped him and warned him that he could only answer yes or no to all subsequent questions.
His lawyer next asked if he had placed a flash drive containing Falun Gong information in a car months before his arrest, as alleged by the police. He replied, “Falun Gong causes no harm to society.” The judge cut him off and ordered him to answer yes or no.
Mr. Han said he had no recollection of whether he placed the flash drive in the car or not. He asked to have the prosecution witness, the car owner, appear in court for cross-examination. The judge brushed him off and ordered his lawyer to explain what happened.
The lawyer pointed out that even if his client had placed the flash drive as alleged, he did nothing wrong, as no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. The lawyer further cast doubt on the flash drive-related “evidence” against his client.
The indictment stated that the car owner reported discovering the flash drive in his car after having taken it home and viewed the contents on his own computer. The lawyer could not rule out the possibility that the car owner or the police had altered the contents of the flash drive.
The indictment further stated that the contents of the flash drive caused the driver harm. The car owner, however, was not present to explain what exactly on the flash drive he found harmful.
The lawyer reiterated that the prosecution failed to demonstrate what harm his client had allegedly caused to any individual or society at large.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Han emphasized that it was his constitutional right to freedom of belief and that the relentless persecution against him for his faith was a violation of his human rights. He stated that he’d previously served three prison terms totaling 15 years, including a seven-year term (April 2004 – April 2011) and two four-year terms (September 2013 – September 2017 and September 2019 – September 2023). He demanded an acquittal. The judge still convicted Mr. Han on December 26, 2025.
Having Been Incarcerated for 14.5 Years, Yunnan Woman Gets Another Four Years
Ms. Kuang Deying, a 64-year-old resident of Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, was arrested at home on August 3, 2025, and sentenced to four years by the Wuhua District Court. She has appealed and is now awaiting a ruling.
Ms. Kuang, a small business owner, has been repeatedly targeted over the past 27 years for upholding her faith. She was arrested six times prior to her latest ordeal. She served two labor camp terms and two prison terms, totaling 14.5 years.
Ms. Kuang’s son was only 15 months old when she was given the first labor camp term in 2002. Unable to cope with the pressure of the persecution, her husband divorced her in 2008. Ms. Kuang’s mother, who also practiced Falun Gong, faced constant harassment as well. She died in 2019, in her 70s, from pulmonary edema and heart failure.
Once Jailed for Five Years, Heilongjiang Man Gets Another Four Years for Practicing Falun Gong
Mr. Guan Lianbin, of Ning’an City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on August 20, 2025, by officers from Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province. It is unclear whether Harbin police went to Ning’an City (nearly 300 miles away) to arrest him or if he was arrested in Harbin.
The Daowai District Court held a virtual hearing of Mr. Guan’s case on December 23, 2025. His lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him and pointed out that the prosecution evidence was fabricated. Judge Wang Tingting later sentenced Mr. Guan to four years.
Prior to his latest persecution, Mr. Guan was repeatedly targeted for upholding his faith. He was arrested on October 22, 2003, and was interrogated under torture for nine straight days. He was force-fed chilled water and mustard oil. The police also covered his head with a black hood, tied him up, and subjected him to sleep deprivation.
Mr. Guan was sentenced to five years on April 14, 2004. The judge threatened to increase his sentence if he dared to appeal.
Mr. Guan was admitted to the Mudanjiang Prison in late March 2004 and put in solitary confinement on September 5 that year. He was forced to wear 50-pound shackles, which were chained to the handcuffs. The guards kept him restrained like that for 15 straight days.
On November 10, 2005, a guard shocked Mr. Guan on his chest, private parts, and inner thighs with an electric baton for over one hour. He had a heart attack as a result.
After 11 Years of Prior Incarceration, Chongqing Man Gets Nearly Four Years
A man in Hechuan District, Chongqing, is serving a three-year-nine-month term at the Yongchuan Prison. The wrongful conviction of Mr. Pu Yuansheng, around 68, stemmed from his arrest in October 2023. The police discovered Falun Gong materials in the Liujiaping region and spotted Mr. Pu passing by that place in their surveillance videos. They suspected him of distributing the materials and took him into custody.
During a physical exam required for continued detention, Mr. Pu was found to have colon cancer and was taken to the hospital for surgery. He was then released on bail.
The police twice searched Mr. Pu’s home while he was on bail and questioned him about where he got the materials and whom he had contacted. They also dispatched agents to monitor him. For a period of time, people were staked outside his apartment building every day. In December 2024 and January 2025, the police twice took Mr. Pu for a physical exam to see if he was well enough to be detained again.
Mr. Pu was taken back into custody on February 25, 2025. A local court sentenced him to three years and nine months around November 2025.
This is not the first time that Mr. Pu has been targeted for his faith. In the early years of the persecution, he served a seven-year prison term and two forced labor terms totaling three years. He was arrested many more times after that. Mr. Pu was held at a brainwashing center for one month in 2016 and at a detention center for one year between 2018 and 2019. He was arrested again in February 2021 and detained for five days. In 2022, Mr. Pu was held in a detention center again for distributing Falun Gong informational materials.
Family Targeted
Ms. Wang Fenghua, a 55-year-old resident of Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, was sentenced to two years on December 16, 2025. She is appealing the verdict.
Ms. Wang was arrested on June 20, 2025. The Yuanbaoshan District Procuratorate approved her arrest on July 1 and moved her case to the Yuanbaoshan District Court on August 8. When her family contacted the procuratorate for her case status on August 4, the assistant prosecutor, Zhang Xiwen, lied to them and said that they hadn’t received the case from the police yet.
For seeking Ms. Wang’s release and filing complaints with various government agencies, her daughter, Ms. Wang Xuemei, was arrested on July 25, 2025, and held for ten days at the Pingzhuang Detention Center.
When the family asked to attend the trial on September 8, 2025, Judge Liu Huiyang demanded to see written requests with photocopies of IDs and proof of family relationship to Ms. Wang Fenghua. Only six family members were approved and all the others’ requests were denied. Those who weren’t allowed to attend the hearing were closely monitored by the police as they waited outside the court. Ms. Meng Qingling and Ms. Bai Shengzhen, two local Falun Gong practitioners who came to show their support for Ms. Wang, were arrested.
The family members who entered the court were subjected to strict security checks. They weren’t allowed to bring their cell phones, watches, or jewelry into the courtroom. Even the piece of paper written with the timing, location, and collegial panel members that Ms. Wang’s brother, Mr. Wang Guoxiang, had on his person was confiscated. Over 20 bailiffs were in the courtroom during the trial.
Ms. Wang recounted how she became much more considerate and hopeful again after practicing Falun Gong, and her almost broken family was made whole again. Because of the positive benefits of practicing Falun Gong, she felt compelled to raise awareness about the persecution and debunk the demonizing propaganda that the communist regime had spread about the practice.
Ms. Wang’s daughter also entered a not guilty plea for her as her family defender. The younger Ms. Wang said that the prosecutor failed to produce evidence to show how her mother had “undermined law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used to charge Falun Gong practitioners in China, citing that no Chinese law has criminalized Falun Gong or labeled it as a cult. In addition, the Chinese National Press and Publication Administration revoked the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011.
During the hearing, Ms. Wang Fenghua’s brother was removed from the courtroom and taken to the Pingzhuang Police Station for interrogation. He was detained for five days.
Prior to Ms. Wang’s latest arrest, she was sentenced to seven years in 2012 by the Yuanbaoshan District Court. She was brutally tortured while serving time at the Inner Mongolia Women’s Prison. The police continued to harass her on a regular basis after she was released.
The Dalian City Intermediate Court in Liaoning Province ruled on December 25, 2025, to uphold the 1.5-year prison sentence of Ms. Meng Xianfang for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Meng, 63, was arrested on March 2, 2025. Her brother, Mr. Meng Xianqi, in his late 60s, hired a lawyer to visit her in the detention center. He called for her immediate release because she’d broken no in law in exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Mr. Meng went to the Shahekou District Procuratorate on May 12, 2025, to submit a request for the legal basis for the prosecution of his sister. Prosecutor Yang Fang refused to accept his request and directed him to seek approval to submit the request from the Shahekou District Police Department. An officer surnamed Yin took the request and accused Mr. Meng of “defaming a former CCP leader.”
When Yin claimed that the government had banned Falun Gong, Mr. Meng retorted that Jiang Zemin, the former CCP leader, launched the persecution of Falun Gong without any legal basis. He said that China’s law-making body, the People’s Congress, has never enacted any law prohibiting Falun Gong.
Yin summoned the police to arrest Mr. Meng. They gave him ten days of administrative detention for “disrupting social order.” Mr. Meng found out later that Yin had recorded their conversation without his knowledge. His family rushed to the police station to seek his release, but were unsuccesful. He was released on May 22, 2025.
Upon returning home, Mr. Meng faced constant harassment from the local police. Officer Mai ordered him to report to the local street committee once every month or they would “visit him at home again.” He had no choice but to comply. Under the directive of the police, the street committee took his picture and forced him to put his fingerprints on a blank piece of paper.
Ms. Meng was tried by the Ganjingzi District Court through a virtual hearing on July 23, 2025. She testified in her own defense and her brother Mr. Meng, who served as her non-lawyer defender, entered a not guilty plea for her. At the end of the hearing, he asked to see the court proceedings but the court refused to provide them.
The court sentenced Ms. Meng to one and a half years with a 10,000-yuan fine on September 2. Mr. Meng filed an appeal on her behalf, which was denied on December 25, 2025.
Mother and Son Sentenced to Six Years for Practicing Falun Gong
A mother and son in Linghai City, Liaoning Province, were sentenced to six years and fined 15,000 yuan on December 26, 2025.
Ms. Lu Suping, 69, a former real estate worker, and her son Mr. Jiang Nan, 45, a tutor, were arrested at their shared residence on June 2, 2025. As soon as Mr. Jiang opened the door at 1:40 p.m. that day, three plainclothes officers rushed in and shoved him to the ground. They handcuffed him and shouted, “Freeze!” at his mother.
The Linghai City Procuratorate issued formal arrest warrants for Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang on July 3, 2025. Mr. Jiang hired a lawyer but the lawyer was threatened by prosecutor Li Feng for daring to represent a Falun Gong practitioner. It is unclear whether Ms. Lu had a lawyer.
The police submitted the case against Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang to the procuratorate on September 2, 2025, and they were indicted on an unknown date.
The Linghai City Court held a hearing of the case on December 22, 2025, without notifying Mr. Jiang’s family. He was not told of the trial until that morning. It is unclear whether his mother was given advance notice of the trial.
Mr. Jiang testified in his own defense but was repeatedly interrupted by the presiding judge, rendering him unable to complete his defense statement. The hearing ended in about an hour, with the judge sentencing Mr. Jiang and his mother four days later.
Guangdong Couple Sentenced to Prison on Fabricated Evidence
A husband and wife in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, were sentenced to prison on December 26, 2025. Mr. Wu Shiyu, around 52, received four years, while his wife, Ms. Zhang Jin’e, 44, was given three years. They were each fined 3,000 yuan.
Mr. Wu purchased a printer in early August 2024 and printed 40 copies of Minghui Weekly (a magazine with news and reports about Falun Gong) at the end of that month. He also printed positive messages about Falun Gong on 20 paper currency bills.
From September 11 to 13, 2024, Mr. Wu’s wife Ms. Zhang placed 24 copies of the Minghui Weekly in the baskets of electric bicycles parked at the entrance of the Panyu Plaza Subway Station in the Panyu District. Security guards reported her to the police on September 13, 2024.
The police soon arrested Ms. Zhang at the subway station. They brought her back to her rental apartment that night and seized Mr. Wu also. The couple’s eight Falun Gong books, 10 copies of Minghui Weekly, 41 paper bills (including the 20 bills with printed messages about Falun Gong), a desktop computer, laptop, printer, and cell phones, were confiscated.
To strengthen the case, the police exaggerated the number of confiscated materials. The 10 copies of Minghui Weekly became 30 in the confiscation notice. The bookmarks inserted in some of the materials were also counted as “cult promotion materials.” The eight Falun Gong books the couple used for their own self-cultivation were given the same label.
The police also interrogated the couple’s young child and pressured her to say that her parents taught her to be good by following Falun Gong’s principles. The family’s nanny was also interrogated and coerced into revealing how the couple talked to her about Falun Gong. The couple’s conversations with their child and nanny were then brought in as evidence of “promoting a cult.”
Mr. Wu was interrogated for hours throughout the night. He became exhausted and revealed the passwords to his tablet and cell phone. After he regained clarity, he refused to disclose his laptop passcode despite police threats.
Even though Mr. Wu did not distribute the Minghui Weekly, he was listed as a co-distributor with his wife. Ms. Zhang, who had no computer knowledge and was not involved in producing the materials, was listed as a co-producer of the materials.
The police raided the couple’s home again on September 23, 2024, when no one was around. They also did not have a third-party witness present as required by law.
When the couple’s lawyer later reviewed the case file, he found that the photos of the second raid showed pictures of the items that had already been confiscated during the first raid.
After the police submitted the case to the procuratorate, the couple’s lawyer noted that the amount of confiscated Minghui Weekly magazines had been further revised, by hand, from 30 to 50.
The couple stood trial at the Haizhu District Court on June 19, 2025. Their lawyer requested that the police-supplied evidence be excluded from the trial. The presiding judge said he needed to watch the police videos and called for a recess. He resumed the hearing at 5:30 p.m., despite the lawyer’s concern that it was too late in the day.
The lawyer reiterated the fact that it was not illegal to practice Falun Gong in China and emphasized that his clients broke no law in producing or distributing Falun Gong materials.
When it was time to give a final statement, the judge stopped the couple as they began to speak, and ended the hearing. He sentenced the couple on December 26, 2025.
Additional Cases
Ms. Zhao Ziqiang, of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on January 7, 2026, to serve a two-year term for her faith in Falun Gong. She was arrested on December 27, 2024, after being reported for putting up self-adhesive stickers bearing messages about Falun Gong.
The Linghai City Court tried Ms. Zhao on November 7, 2025. She testified in her own defense and emphasized that no law in China has criminalized Falun Gong nor labeled it as a cult. She cited relevant government regulations attesting to that fact, and added that the government had long before lifted the ban on Falun Gong publications. She asserted that she had broken no law in exercising her constitutional right to disseminate messages about Falun Gong. The court nonetheless sentenced Ms. Zhao to two years on November 19, 2025.
Ms. Zhao is the 54th Falun Gong practitioner in the greater Jinzhou region who has been wrongly convicted for their faith by the same Linghai City Court between 2022 and November 2025. The Linghai City Court has been designated to handle Falun Gong cases in Jinzhou City and its subordinate cities and counties.
Jilin Man Sentenced to Three Years for Installing Satellite Dishes
Mr. Liu Zhu, 61 and of Yitong County, Jilin Province, was arrested at home on March 3, 2025, by police officers from Yushu City in the same province, about 200 miles away. Officer Fan Liming from the Yushu City Domestic Security Office forced Mr. Liu to stand in front of a satellite dish and took photos of him. They later built a case against him, accusing him of purchasing and installing satellite dishes for people to receive “anti-China” TV programs from overseas media.
Mr. Liu was held at the Yushu City Detention Center after his arrest and then transferred to the Yitong Detention Center. He was tried by a local court in Yitong County in late December 2025 and sentenced to three years in prison at an unknown time.
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