Meizhou City, Guangdong Province: At Least 78 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced Since 1999

(Minghui.org) At least 78 Falun Gong practitioners have been sentenced to prison by courts in Meizhou City, Guangdong Province since the onset of the persecution in 1999.

Among the 64 practitioners whose current ages are known, five are in their 40s, 18 in their 50s, 28 in their 60s, 12 in their 70s, and one is in her 80s. One practitioner developed cancer while serving time and she died less than two months after being released on medical parole; she was in her 50s.

The prison sentences (totaling 94 occurrences, as 16 practitioners were twice sentenced) were handed down by eight local courts: the Meixian District Court, Meijiang District Court, Jiaoling County Court, Wuhua County Court, Xingning City Court, Dabu County Court, Fengshun County Court and Meizhou City Court.

The first prison term likely took place in 2001 (exact date unknown). Between then and 2017, all courts participated in the persecution, responsible for 55 prison sentences. But after 2018, the Meixian District Court was specifically designated as the court to handle all local Falun Gong cases, and 39 practitioners have been sentenced since.

The 94 prison terms ranged from 1.5 to 12 years, with an average of 4 years and 8 months. Most of the heavy terms (up to 10.5 years) were given to practitioners who took part in raising awareness about the persecution, including printing informational materials or sending out information on cell phones.

It wasn’t until 2016 that the first instances of court fines were reported (3,000 yuan given by the Meijiang District Court and 10,000 yuan by the Jiaoling County Court). Among the total 45 court fines reported, 36 were handed down by the Meixian District Court, averaging 46,222 yuan per person; 4 practitioners were fined by the Meijiang District Court, averaging 12,000 yuan per person; 2 practitioners were fined by the Wuhua County Court for 20,000 yuan each; and the Jiaoling County Court and Xingning City Court each handed down one court fine, for 10,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan, respectively.

Prosecutors and Judges Who Indicted and Sentenced Practitioners

Several of the judges with the Meixian District Court were promoted for their active participation in Falun Gong cases. Judge Wei Donghua, who sentenced at least 11 practitioners, was named president of the Criminal Court. Judge Zhang Qiaoling, who took part in convicting 18 practitioners, received many awards, including “Advanced Worker,” “People’s Congress Representative,” “Top Ten Female Judges,” and, “Red Flag Bearer.” Zhang and two more judges, Wu Wenlong and Zhang Wei, were all promoted to vice president of the Criminal Court. Other judges who worked on Falun Gong cases include Tang Wen and Zhong Xiaoyu.

In addition to the judges, court clerks Zhang Xuhui and Ling Yue, and judge assistant Ye Shu also signed their names on the practitioners’ verdicts.

Prior to the court trials, prosecutors Yang Jinzhu, Luo Huimei, Peng Shiqiang, Li Bing, Peng Qiuhong, Guo Xiuxia, Yang Meihong, and Lan Sheng of the Meixian District Procuratorate were responsible for indicting the practitioners. Many of them were assisted by Yang Haiyan.

Other perpetrators who have sentenced Falun Gong practitioners include judges Zhang Xiaohui, Chen Bingping, and Zhang Jinmo, and court clerk Xiong Wensheng, of the Meijiang District Court; judges Zhou Chengyou, Li Faning, and Zhou Xiuhong, and court clerk Liu Dong, of the Wuhua County Court; judges Li Zhaokuo and Zhao Min of the Dabu County Court; and prosecutor Sun Duanming of the Dabu County Procuratorate.

Below are selected sentencing cases. The full list of the cases can be downloaded here (pdf).

Woman Dies After Being Release from Prison in Critical Condition

Ms. Li Songfang was arrested on February 20, 2008, for trying to make a banner about Falun Gong. She was sentenced to four years by the Jiaoling County Court in June 2008. While serving time at the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison, she developed uterine cancer, kidney necrosis, and gastric bleeding. She was released on the verge of death on March 18, 2011. Her family immediately took her to the Meizhou City People’s Hospital. She died weeks later on May 3, 2011. She was in her 50s.

A Married Couple and Two Others Sentenced to Up to Ten Years in Prison

Four Meizhou City residents were sentenced to prison in late December 2024 by the Meixian District Court.

Mr. Li Zhuozhong, a former middle school teacher in his 50s, and his wife, Ms. Liao Yuanqun, a former kindergarten teacher, were both sentenced to ten years and fined a total of 150,000 yuan. Mr. Xie Yujun, 56, and Ms. Liao Juanna were each given five years and fined 70,000 yuan.

The police also confiscated from Mr. Li and Ms. Liao’s home 153,445 yuan in paper currency with information about Falun Gong printed on them, as well 58,328 yuan in regular cash. In addition to the court fines, the total financial loss to the couple was 453,445 yuan.

Mr. Li Zhuozhong and Ms. Liao Yuanqun were arrested on April 19, 2024. The police spent over three hours searching the couple’s place. Several printers and over 200,000 yuan in cash were confiscated. Ms. Liao Juanna (no relation) was also seized that day.

Mr. Li was found to have tuberculosis shortly after his arrest and was refused admission by the local detention center. The police held him at the Meizhou City Addiction Treatment Center, also known as the Meizhou City Third People’s Hospital. He was locked in a room on the sixth floor and was the only person on the entire floor.

On April 24, 2024, the same group of officers descended on Mr. Xie Yujun’s home to arrest him. As he wasn’t in, they began to search the place. His wife tried to stop them. The police produced a search warrant with no signature and continued the raid. Mr. Xie’s cellphone, media player, flash-drives, desktop computer, and security cameras were confiscated.

The police hunted for Mr. Xie and arrested him a day later. Both his wife and ten-year-old son, who were intimidated during the home-raid, were placed under house arrest. His wife was informed on May 27 that her husband’s arrest had been approved.

Mr. Li’s mother was severely distressed by his and his wife’s arrests. She was hospitalized on July 10, 2024, due to complications of diabetes. The doctor issued her a critical condition notice and transferred the elderly woman to the intensive care unit. The family demanded that the police release Mr. Li to allow him to visit his mother, but the police refused the request. When she passed away at the end of that month, the police again refused his family’s request to allow Mr. Li to attend his mother’s funeral.

Even though the couple and the two other practitioners didn’t know each other before their arrests, the police combined their cases into one and submitted the case to the Xingning City Procuratorate in late July 2024. The joint case was then reassigned to the Meixian District Procuratorate on August 20. The Meixian District Court held two hearings on the case, on October 18 and November 12, 2024, before convicting the four practitioners around December 20.

Prior to their latest sentencing, Mr. Li served two labor camp terms totaling three years; Ms. Liao Yuanqun served a one-year labor camp term and a five-year prison sentence; and Mr. Xie was incarcerated for nine and a half years, including two labor camp terms and a five-year prison term.

Guangdong Couple Sentenced to 10.5 and 10 Years

Mr. Liang Shunjing, 72, and his wife, Ms. Deng Xiufen, 65, were arrested on December 10, 2015, for sending information about Falun Gong through a wifi network. Ms. Deng was soon released on bail due to health reasons. Although Mr. Liang developed three huge tumors due to abuse at the Meijiang District Detention Center, the authorities refused to release him.

Mr. Liang and Ms. Deng were tried by the Meijiang District Court on March 29, 2016. Mr. Liang was later sentenced to ten years and six months with a 20,000-yuan fine; and Ms. Deng was given ten years, also with a 20,000-yuan fine.

Mr. Liang was taken to Sihui Prison on August 23, 2016. He was later transferred to Huicheng Prison and released on medical parole in June 2024.

Ms. Deng was admitted to the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison on August 17, 2016.

The couple owned a home electronics store with a booming business. After their prison sentences, their college-aged daughter was unable to manage the business and had to close the store.

Wife Sentenced to Six Years, One Month After Husband’s Release from Prison

One month after Mr. Tu Qingguang finished serving a 4.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong, his wife, Ms. He Qingxiang, was sentenced to six years for their shared faith.

Between 2010 and 2021, this Meizhou City couple has spent less than four years together due to the persecution.

The couple were arrested on November 23, 2010, for talking to people about Falun Gong and were sentenced to 3.5 years each by the Dabu County Court. Mr. Tu was released from the Meizhou Prison in November 2013 and Ms. He was released from the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison one month later.

Less than four years later, on April 12, 2017, Mr. Tu was again arrested for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was sentenced to 4.5 years by the Meijiang District Court in July and taken to the Shaoguan Prison on December 26, 2017.

While Mr. Tu was serving time, Ms. He was arrested on January 26, 2021, just as she was about to leave for work. A group of officers stormed into her home when she opened the door, and confiscated her Falun Gong books and other personal belongings. She was held at the Meijiang District Detention Center.

Ms. He appeared in the Meixian District Court twice, on July 20 and September 23, 2021, respectively. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. She was sentenced to six years with a 60,000-yuan fine on November 5, one month after her husband was released. She was admitted to the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison on January 28, 2022, after the Meizhou City Intermediate Court denied her appeal.

Guangdong Man Sentenced to 2.5 Years, Older Brother Serving 5 Years

Mr. Xie Hankui was arrested at home on February 24, 2023, weeks after the Internet police spotted the words “How Humankind Came to Be” in a message he posted in a chat room on social media. Falun Gong’s founder wrote an article titled “How Humankind Came to Be” in January 2023 and the police thus accused Mr. Xie of promoting Falun Gong information online.

While Mr. Xie was released that same day, he was arrested again two days later and given criminal detention. A formal arrest warrant was issued on March 13.

The Meixian District Court held a hearing on Mr. Xie’s case on July 13, 2023. His wife was barred from attending. Their son was initially allowed to enter the courthouse but was soon escorted out. The court claimed that both the mother and son were listed as prosecution witnesses and thus were not allowed to attend the hearing. They merely answered questions asked by the police on the day of Mr. Xie’s initial arrest (February 24) and were shocked to learn that their words had been used against their loved one without their knowledge or consent.

Mr. Xie’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him and Mr. Xie also testified in his own defense. He was later sentenced to two and a half years.

Mr. Xie’s older brother, Mr. Xie Hanzhu, is also serving time for practicing Falun Gong. The older Mr. Xie, a former energy department chief, was arrested on October 20, 2021 and sentenced to five years by the Meixian District Court in late 2022. Prior to that, he was arrested in February 2005 and sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Meijiang District Court.

Former Pharmaceutical Company Employee Sentenced Twice, for a Total of 17.5 Years

Ms. Guo Yafen, a former employee of the Meixian Pharmaceutical Company, was given two years of forced labor in November 1999, four months after the onset of the persecution. She was arrested again on February 3, 2005, with Mr. Xie Hanzhu (mentioned above) and Mr. Liu Liping, for running a home-based site to print informational materials about Falun Gong for other practitioners to distribute. They appeared in the Meijiang District Court on July 5, 2005 and were sentenced to prison a month later on August 4. Both Mr. Liu and Mr. Xie were sentenced to 12 years and Ms. Guo was given 11 years.

Ms. Guo was released from the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison on August 3, 2012, only to be arrested again on June 21, 2018, with Ms. Zeng Huaying and Mr. Zeng Haiping (no relation), for printing and distributing Falun Gong materials and hanging up Falun Gong banners. The three were tried by the Meixian District Court in December 2018 and convicted on March 22, 2019: Ms. Guo was sentenced to 6.5 years and fined 8,000 yuan; and both Mr. Zeng and Ms. Zeng were given 5 years with a 5,000-yuan fine.

Prior to this prison sentence, Mr. Zeng was given another 5.5-year term by the Meijiang District Court on April 24, 2003, for raising awareness about the persecution.

Once Jailed for 7 Years, 52-Year-Old Former Bank Manager Gets Another 5 Years

Ms. Fu Xuebing, 52, was arrested on September 10, 2024, as soon as she stepped outside her apartment building. The Meijiang District Procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant against her around October 15, 2024 and later reassigned her case to the neighboring Meixian District Procuratorate.

Ms. Fu stood trial on March 18, 2025 and was sentenced to five years and fined 80,000 yuan in early April 2025 by the Meixian District Court.

This is not the first time Ms. Fu was targeted for her faith. She was previously arrested in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. Her home was ransacked numerous times and her belongings were confiscated.

In addition to being arrested and incarcerated, Ms. Fu was also repeatedly fined for not calling her supervisor at the Bank of China Meizhou City Division to report her whereabouts at night or on holidays (a tactic the authorities used to prevent her from going out to distribute Falun Gong materials). She worked at the bank as a lobby manager for 16 years, but when she was eventually fired on August 6, 2008, she was not given any severance pay.

Ms. Fu was sentenced to seven years by the Meijiang District Court after her arrest in 2014. She endured horrific abuse in prison and was released early in June 2020. She was frequently harassed by the police after she returned home.

Practitioner Passed Away Before Being Sentenced

Other than the practitioners who were sentenced, one woman died as a result of frequent harassment by court and procuratorate staffers before she was even sentenced.

Ms. Huang Xiaozhen was arrested on November 28, 2016 and was issued a formal arrest warrant days later on December 7. She was released on bail on December 21 that year due to poor health. The Meixian District Procuratorate indicted her on January 20, 2017. Judge Zhang Qiaoling of the Meixian District Court initially scheduled a hearing for February 22, but canceled it on February 15. For the next few months, court and procuratorate staffers kept calling Ms. Huang or harassing her at home. Her health deteriorated quickly and she passed away in December 2018.