(Minghui.org) A 58-year-old woman in Yi County, Liaoning Province, was tried on September 3, 2026, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.
Ms. Zuo Lizhi, born in September 1968, was arrested on the morning of May 12, 2026, after a police officer’s mother reported her for distributing Falun Gong informational materials at a fair. The arresting officers from the Linghai City Domestic Security Office put her in the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center, where she remains. Both Linghai City and Yi County are under the administration of Jinzhou City.
Lawyer Threatened
Before the hearing, prosecutor Li Feng with the Linghai City Procuratorate asked if Ms. Zuo’s lawyer planned to plead not-guilty on her behalf. He said he did, because she believed she broke no law.
Li appeared agitated and threatened to add six months to the recommended sentence. When the lawyer reminded him that the case should be handled in accordance with the law, Li replied, “The CCP pays my salary, so that’s who I’ll listen to.”
He then challenged the lawyer, “Where is your loyalty to the CCP?”
After the trial, Li and judge Du Wenfang from the Linghai City Court both asked the lawyer why he had dared to defend Ms. Zuo’s innocence. They threatened to file a complaint against him and have him investigated for “leaning towards Falun Gong.”
Trial
During the trial, judge Du asked why Ms. Zuo insisted on practicing Falun Gong. She said she started to practice it in 1996 for health reasons. She improved quickly and regained her energy. She was able to do household chores again.
Prosecutor Li accused her of breaking the law by distributing Falun Gong informational materials. When judge Du asked why she did that, she replied that because of her own positive experience, she simply wanted to let people know about the benefits of Falun Gong.
Ms. Zuo noted that the Constitution protects her right to freedom of belief and that no law in China deems Falun Gong a crime or labels it as a cult, so she did not break any law by distributing Falun Gong informational materials.
When prosecutor Li alleged that the police confiscated 13 Falun Gong books from her home, she told judge Du that only two books were seized and that the police had counted single-page flyers as books.
Ms. Zuo pointed out that Falun Gong is practiced in over 100 countries and regions throughout the world and that China is the only country where it’s banned. Prosecutor Li protested that she was promoting Falun Gong, and judge Du cut her off.
Her lawyer demanded her acquittal because she didn’t cause any harm to any individual or society at large. Du interrupted his defense statement many times and warned him not to cite laws in the defense.
Du later asked if Ms. Zuo admitted guilt, and she said she did not. Prosecutor Li then recommended six more months in addition to the four years he had already put forth in the indictment.
After Du adjourned the session, the bailiff returned the spectators’ IDs. By law, spectators do not need to submit their IDs to attend a trial.
Past Persecution
Prior to this latest incident, Ms. Zuo, a middle school teacher, served a five-year prison term (August 2008 to August 2013), also for her faith in Falun Gong. She was brutally tortured in the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Zuo is not the only person in her family who has been targeted for practicing Falun Gong. Her brother, Mr. Zuo Zhongyou, was held and brutally tortured in a forced labor camp, where he died on May 29, 2006, at the age of 35. The siblings’ great-aunt, Ms. Kan Yiren, died in 2008. Her health declined after being repeatedly persecuted. Their maternal grandparents, Ms. Long Xiuying and Mr. Kan Zetian, died in 2012 and 2014, respectively, after being intimidated and harassed by the police and community workers for years. See the related reports for Ms. Zuo and her family’s past persecution.
Ms. Zuo’s mother, Ms. Kan Zhixi, in her 80s, served two terms in forced labor camps, lengths unknown. Ms. Kan is urging the authorities to release her daughter.
Related Reports:
Once Jailed for 5 Years, Liaoning Teacher Faces Indictment Again for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Persecution of Falun Dafa Claims the Lives of Four People in the Same Family
Brother Persecuted to Death and Sister Illegally Sentenced to Prison
Young Teacher Dies after Suffering Cruel Torture at Jinzhou City Labor Camp in Liaoning Province
Yi County Court in Liaoning Province Secretly Transferred Practitioner Zuo Lizhi
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