(Minghui.org) Three residents of Longkou City, Shandong Province, were sentenced to prison on March 13, 2026, for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Cui Xiuju, around 70, and Ms. Luan Yanping, in her 50s, were both given three years and nine months, with a 20,000-yuan fine. Ms. Li Yufang, around 70, was sentenced to two and a half years and fined 10,000 yuan. All three have appealed the verdicts.
The three practitioners were arrested during a police sweep on July 17, 2025, while talking to people about Falun Gong at the Xufudawang Community Fair. None of the officers were in uniform. They handcuffed the practitioners and pushed them into their cruiser.
The police snatched the practitioners’ keys and searched their homes. They confiscated their Falun Gong books and informational materials later used these items as prosecution evidence against the practitioners. The women were taken to the Yantai City Detention Center at 11 o’clock that night. (Yantai City oversees Longkou City.)
The practitioners were issued formal arrest warrants on August 8. The Longkou City Police Department submitted their cases to the Longkou City Procuratorate on August 18. Prosecutor Lyu Shasha indicted all three four days later. When the practitioners’ family defenders questioned Lyu as to why she acted so fast on the cases, even before they submitted their paperwork and legal opinions, she responded, “What’s wrong with processing the cases quickly? We finished working on some cases in just one or two days.”
By law, the procuratorate has one month to investigate a case and make fully informed decision as to whether to indict a suspect. Prosecutor Lyu indicted the practitioners in just four days without reviewing the family defenders’ defense statements.
On September 30, 2025, Ms. Luan’s family submitted an application to the Shandong Provincial Public Security Bureau, demanding to know the legal basis for the persecution. The Longkou City Police Department responded on October 31, 2025, saying that such information was “confidential” and they “aren’t authorized” to provide it as open information.
The practitioners appeared at the Longkou City Court on January 23, 2026. Only two family members of each practitioner were allowed to attend the session. When the practitioners’ family defenders requested that the practitioners’ handcuffs be removed, the presiding judge, Zhao Yu, refused the request, claiming that the detention center guards had put the handcuffs on and that the court didn’t have the keys.
The family defenders demanded that prosecutor Lyu and judge Zhao be recused from the case, because the defendants had previously filed complaints against them, creating a conflict of interest. Judge Zhao denied the request, with the argument that it “does not fall under the circumstances stipulated by law.” When the family defenders asked how this could be so, Zhao refused to answer and only asked if they had heard her clearly.
Judge Zhao repeatedly interrupted the family defenders when they were presenting their defense statements. She later even prevented them from asking the defendants any questions. When the family defenders asked the court clerk to make a correction to the court proceedings, the clerk responded, “You should just mind your own business and not interfere with others. Other people’s work has nothing to do with you.”
During the cross-examination stage, prosecutor Lyu didn’t present any actual items in court or call any of the five prosecution witnesses to the stand.
The judge convicted all three practitioners on March 13, 2026.
Related Reports:
Longkou, Shandong Province: 12 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day, 4 Indicted
70-Year-Old Woman Faces Prosecution for Her Faith, Family Works Tirelessly to Seek Her Release
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
