(Minghui.org) Two women in Pingdu City, Shandong Province, were sentenced to prison on April 2, 2026, for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhang Yuemei was sentenced to 20 months and fined 8,000 yuan. Ms. Yu Hongzhi was given 16 months and fined 5,000 yuan. Ms. Zhang appealed the sentence.
Ms. Zhang and Ms. Yu, both in their 70s, were arrested on June 3, 2025, after police spotted them putting up posters about Falun Gong. They were taken to the Pudong Detention Center the next day.
The Zhugou Town Police Station submitted both women’s cases to the Pingdu City Procuratorate on August 26, 2025. They were indicted on September 26, 2025, and stood trial at the Pingdu City Court on November 12, 2025. Both were convicted on April 2, 2026.
Ms. Zhang’s Past Persecution
Ms. Zhang, an elementary school teacher, began practicing Falun Gong in the winter of 1996. Her many ailments, such as depression, tracheitis, and liver disease, soon disappeared. After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, she was repeatedly targeted for upholding her faith. She was given a one-year forced labor camp in 2007. Between 1999 and 2017, the police extorted nearly 30,000 yuan from her and her family. Many of her valuables, such as a TV, a VCD player, and a music player, were confiscated. The police also used the money extorted from her and other local Falun Gong practitioners to eat at restaurants or to go on vacations.
When Ms. Zhang was detained, her husband was under so much pressure that he had severe insomnia and smoked heavily. The pressure took a toll on his health. He became ill and passed away in April 2012.
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