The persecution of Falun Gong targeted 100 million people in China, and decimated countless families and communities across China. Below, we offer a glimpse into the human cost of this persecution with up-close and personal stories of those who were killed, those who survived, and those struggling to the freedom of others. These are their stories…
The persecution of Falun Gong targeted 100 million people in China, and decimated countless families and communities across China. These are their stories…
Ms. Liu Huiju, an 84-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province, died in Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on May 7, 2026, nine months after authorities forced her—by then wheelchair-bound and in severely poor health—to begin serving a sentence handed down more than three years earlier. Her case was reported by Minghui.org on July 23 and by Weiquanwang on July 24.
Ms. Chen Yan, a 45-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Benxi City, Liaoning Province, died on November 8, 2025—just three days after being admitted to Liaoning Province Women’s Prison to serve a five-year sentence for her faith. The Falun Dafa Information Center reported her death on December 2, 2025, describing how she was transferred to the prison unable to walk after 16 months of abuse in detention, and died within days. This report follows up with new details that have since emerged about the authorities’ handling of her death and their obstruction of an independent autopsy.
Ms. Liu Yulian, a 77-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Linqing City, Shandong Province, was arrested on May 12, 2026, and admitted to Shandong Province Women’s Prison in Jinan around May 25—only 13 days later—without her family being informed of any charge, trial, or legal representation. Her case was reported by Minghui.org on June 2 and by Weiquanwang on June 3.
Ms. Cong Peishan is 87 years old. Ms. Li Xianghong is 63. After years of imprisonment and persecution for practicing Falun Gong, both women have effectively been left without income.
A blind woman from Kunming City, Yunnan Province, has disappeared under alarming circumstances, raising serious concerns about custodial enforcement against vulnerable Falun Gong practitioners in China.
A 90-year-old resident of Jinan City, Shandong Province, has been sentenced to two years in prison for speaking about Falun Gong on a public bus, according to a series of reports first published by Minghui.org on March 10, followed by Weiquanwang on March 11, and later by Bitter Winter on March 19. The case underscores persistent concerns about religious freedom and the treatment of elderly practitioners in China.
Mr. Chen Yang and his wife Cao Zhimin, both from Changsha, were arrested in November 2020 simply for studying Falun Gong teachings and reading Falun Gong books at the home of practitioner Li Zhigang. In January 2022, Chen Yang was illegally sentenced to four years in prison and fined 15,000 yuan, while Cao Zhimin was sentenced to three years and ten months and fined 10,000 yuan. Chen Yang was taken to Wangling Prison in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, while Cao Zhimin was imprisoned in the Hunan Women’s Prison.
Ms. Wang Guirong, a 72-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Shouguang, Shandong Province, has been sentenced to two years in prison for her faith. On Feb. 5, 2026, she was transferred to Shandong Province Women’s Prison to serve what authorities characterized as a criminal sentence. Her family was reportedly afforded no meaningful legal recourse.
Persecution cases against Falun Gong practitioners continue to be reported almost daily across China. In late December 2025, a mother and son in Linghai City, Liaoning Province, were each sentenced to six years in prison solely for practicing Falun Gong. The case was reported on Jan. 21, 2026, by Weiquanwang, a website aggregating grassroots accounts of human rights abuses in China, and by Minghui.org. In early Febunary, Bitter Winter, an Italy-based online magazine focused on religious persecution, independently confirmed this case once again highlighting how Chinese security forces target not only individual practitioners but entire families for their beliefs.
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