(Minghui.org) An 85-year-old woman in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, is serving time for her faith in Falun Gong at the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison, Minghui.org learned recently.
Ms. Li Yanyun was arrested on September 28, 2021, and released on bail hours later. She was sentenced to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine on November 16, 2022. Due to her advanced age and poor health, she was allowed to postpone serving time.
Ms. Li’s friends lost contact with her around late March 2026 and found out recently that she had been admitted to Division Nine of the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison.
Prior to her latest persecution episode, Ms. Li was arrested on September 7, 2013. Officers from the Dongluqiao Police Station and the Xishan District Domestic Security Office also raided her home. Her husband, who had just had surgery for his coronary heart disease, was so terrified that he totally froze. He died shortly afterwards.
Details of Latest Arrest
Ms. Li, a retired nurse, gave a former colleague a calendar about Falun Gong on September 27, 2021 and was reported by the colleague’s son, who was working for the Ministry of State Security. The police broke into her home the next day and arrested her. Hundreds of Falun Gong books and four photos of Falun Gong’s founder were confiscated.
After a thorough physical examination, Ms. Li was taken to the Kunming City Detention Center on September 29, 2021. Due to her advanced age and serious symptoms of emphysema (damaged air sacs of the lungs) and vascular sclerosis, the guards refused to admit her. She was released after paying a 1,000-yuan bail bond.
The police constantly harassed Ms. Li during her one-year bail period. In July 2022, an officer surnamed Ma summoned Ms. Li and told her that according to an order from above, they were submitting her case to the Xishan District Procuratorate.
Ms. Li was summoned by prosecutor Wang Kejing in August 2022. He asked her if she still practiced Falun Gong and whether she agreed to plead guilty for practicing Falun Gong. He also showed her a photo taken at her home and asked her whether the Falun Gong books in the photo were hers. He promised to give her a light sentence if she pleaded guilty; otherwise she would receive a heavy term.
Ms. Li refused to answer his questions. She maintained that she didn’t violate any law in practicing Falun Gong, and that the authorities were persecuting her.
On November 11, 2022, officer Ma showed Ms. Li two photos of her taken by the street surveillance cameras and asked if she often went out to talk to people about Falun Gong. She remained silent.
Ms. Li appeared in the Xishan District Court on November 16. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. The judges, Deng Rui, Ma Qianqian and Deng Huiyuan, sentenced her to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine on charges of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong in China.
Ms. Li believes that the judges abused the law in prosecuting her. She appealed with the Kunming City Intermediate Court, demanding the trial court acquit her and the police return her confiscated personal property.
Ms. Li said in the appeal that the Falun Gong books confiscated from her only served to show that she is a Falun Gong practitioner. She pointed out that the Chinese publication bureau lifted the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011, so it’s completely fine for her to have the books at home. She added that books teach the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, which are beneficial to society.
There is no follow-up report about the appeal case, but Ms. Li has likely been taken back into custody in March 2026 to serve time.
Related Reports:
81-year-old Retired Nurse Sentenced to One Year for Her Faith in Falun Gong
81-year-old Retired Chief Nurse Faces Prosecution for Giving Calendar to Former Colleague
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