(Minghui.org) A woman in Fuxin City, Liaoning Province, was recently sentenced to three years for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Ms. Xiong Suxiang has appealed.

Ms. Xiong, in her 70s, was arrested around 7 a.m. on September 18, 2025, by officers from the Zhangwu County Police Department. They claimed that a surveillance camera recorded her putting up Falun Gong posters. Her computer and Falun Gong books were confiscated.

Ms. Xiong’s family didn’t receive any updates about her. They only confirmed in March 2026 that she had been sentenced to three years by the Fuxin Mongol Autonomous County Court, which was designated to handle Falun Gong cases in the greater Fuxin City. Details about her indictment, trial, and sentencing aren’t clear.

Three Prior Arrests and a Seven-Year Prison Sentence

Prior to her latest sentencing, Ms. Xiong was arrested three more times and sentenced to seven years in prison for refusing to give up her faith in Falun Gong.

19 Days of Detention

Ms. Xiong was first arrested in nearby Shuangmiao Township on December 12, 2001, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials there. She was held at the Zhangwu County Detention Center for 19 days. She held a hunger strike to protest and a female guard named Li Ying beat her. The police extorted 5,000 yuan from her family before releasing her.

Sentenced to Seven Years

Cui Haifeng, the political director of the Zhangwu County Police Department, and a group of officers broke into Ms. Xiong’s home early on the morning of February 25, 2008, and raided it. Her husband, who didn’t practice Falun Gong, was also arrested. He was released that evening, but Ms. Xiong was admitted to the Zhangwu County Detention Center. She was later sentenced to seven years and transferred to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison in September 2008.

In the First Division, the guards forced Ms. Xiong to sit motionless on a small stool for at least 18 hours a day from 6 a.m. to midnight. They assigned inmates Jin Wenli and Cai Tiehong to watch her. They said to her, “If you stand up, you won’t be allowed to sit anymore. You will have to stand on a floor tile and not move.”

Because Ms. Xiong remained firm in her faith, inmate Jin extended her sitting torture to 2 a.m., making it 20 hours a day. She was once not allowed to sleep for three days in a row. She was unable to eat as a result and became emaciated. She also felt extremely dizzy and as if her legs were about to give out. She staggered as she walked.

Torture illustration: Sitting on a small stool

One time, inmates Jin and Cai pulled out a handful of Ms. Xiong’s hair when they beat her.

Ms. Xiong was later forced to do slave labor, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. All the inmates had to eat their three meals in the workshop and were allowed almost no break time. Those who couldn’t finish their daily quota were forced to sit on a small stool until 10 p.m. before being allowed to sleep.

Sometimes the prison only fed the inmates lunch and didn’t allow them to eat breakfast or dinner. They had to finish lunch in just a few minutes. Those who needed to use the restroom had to run back and forth. Many held it in and then used the restroom when the work session was over in the evening. However, the prison only opened half of the toilets to reduce cleaning time, which created a long line of people waiting to use them.

Another Arrest

Ms. Xiong was arrested another time, in July 2015, for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. She was detained for four hours.