Gao Lijuan (高立娟) is a teacher from Tianjin who was sentenced to nine years in prison in January 2020 for practicing Falun Gong. She was arrested on December 28, 2017, together with 36 other practitioners in a group arrest, and was held at the Binhai New Area No. 3 Detention Center before and after sentencing. In August 2021 she was transferred to the Tianjin Women’s Prison. She appears in the Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 monthly roster (August 31, 2026) among political prisoners and prisoners of conscience listed as in custody, in the nine-year-sentence group.
Arrest and detention
According to Minghui reporting, Ms. Gao, then 48, was one of 37 Falun Gong practitioners arrested in Tianjin on December 28, 2017. She was held at the Binhai New Area No. 3 Detention Center, where her lawyer visited her several times and her family periodically sent clothing and money. During a pre-hearing meeting on February 28, 2019, her lawyers argued that there was no legal basis for the case and that her client had broken no law by practicing her faith; Ms. Gao denied all the allegations. At a hearing in the Binhai New Area Court on June 24, 2019, the presiding judge threatened to sentence her to 12 years, citing orders from superiors.
Sentence
In January 2020 she was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 30,000 yuan. When her family visited the detention center that June to deposit money, guards told them she had been taken away; the family later confirmed, on February 8, 2021, that she was still being held at the Binhai New Area No. 3 Detention Center. On August 25, 2021, she was taken to the Tianjin Women’s Prison.
Family impact
Minghui reported that her mother, nearly 80 and living with Ms. Gao at the time of the arrest, was terrified by the police raid, moved in with Ms. Gao’s sister afterward, and suffered deteriorating health. The mother died on September 4, 2021; Ms. Gao was not permitted to attend the funeral. At the time of the arrest, her daughter was a high school junior and was left at home alone afterward; Minghui also reported that her father’s shared faith in Falun Gong forced him to live away from home, and that the daughter’s applications to colleges outside China were intercepted by the 610 Office.
Source-attributed note: the family-impact details come from Minghui’s reporting and have not been independently verified by other outlets.
Status
The Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 report (August 31, 2026) lists Gao Lijuan among political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in custody, in the nine-year-sentence group. Her custody or release status after August 31, 2026 is not publicly confirmed and is not asserted here.
Source: Rights Defense Network / 维权网, Issue 131 monthly report, August 31, 2026. See the Media Profile & Archive for the identification method and evidentiary limits.
View the Gao Lijuan Media Profile & Archive for full source detail, the identification method, and provenance.