Zhang Xiuqin (张秀琴)
Ms. Zhang Xiuqin (张秀琴), 61 at the time of her 2024 case, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, China. Detained on January 17, 2024, near the Mingxing residential area in Jinzhou by domestic-security police of the Guta branch of the Jinzhou Public Security Bureau, she was prosecuted by the Linghai City Procuratorate, tried by the Linghai City Court on April 11, 2024, and sentenced on May 10, 2024, to six years in prison with a 12,000-yuan fine. Her appeal was denied by the Jinzhou Intermediate People’s Court on July 2, 2024. Around August 18–21, 2024, she was transferred to Ward 12 of the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison. The Rights Defense Network’s (维权网) monthly political-prisoners report (Issue 131, August 31, 2026) lists her as a current in-custody political prisoner in its six-year sentence group.
Background
Falun Gong (法轮功), also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline combining meditation exercises with moral teachings centered on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. It has been suppressed in China since July 1999. Practitioners detained for their faith are commonly prosecuted under the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement.”
The 2024 case
According to a case notice published by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), Ms. Zhang was seized on January 17, 2024, near the Mingxing residential area by the Tiedong Market in Jinzhou, by officers of the domestic-security division of the Guta branch of the Jinzhou Public Security Bureau; her home was searched. The domestic-security division referred her case to the Linghai City Procuratorate, where prosecutor Li Feng brought the indictment before the Linghai City Court. The court tried her on April 11, 2024; her lawyer and family-appointed defenders entered not-guilty pleas. On May 10, 2024, the Linghai City Court sentenced her to six years in prison and imposed a 12,000-yuan fine. She appealed on May 13, 2024, to the Jinzhou Intermediate People’s Court, which upheld the verdict on July 2, 2024. Around August 18–21, 2024, she was transferred to Ward 12 of the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Current status
The Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 monthly report (August 31, 2026), which lists 1,638 reported current-custody political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, places 张秀琴 in its 判刑6年，54人 (sentenced to 6 years, 54 people) group. No update on her condition after the August 2024 prison transfer has been found.
A note on sources
The case chronology above draws on a single detailed source: a June 10, 2024 (updated August 25, 2024) case notice from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), a Falun Gong-affiliated monitoring organization. WOIPFG’s reporting is partisan: it presents the detention and prosecution as persecution and reflects the perspective of the Falun Gong community. Factual claims in the notice — dates, courts, officials, and the prison transfer — are recorded here as reported by that organization; no court document, state-media account, or independent international-media reporting on her case was found. The six-year sentence and current-custody listing are independently corroborated by the Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 roster (August 31, 2026).
Sources
- World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), “追查辽宁省锦州市迫害法轮功学员张秀琴的责任人的通告” (Notice on investigating those responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Xiuqin in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province), June 10, 2024 (updated August 25, 2024)
- 维权网 (Rights Defense Network), “维权网：中国大陆在押政治犯、良心犯月度报告（2026年8月31日）第131期（共1638人）,” August 31, 2026 (Chinese edition; 张秀琴 in the 判刑6年，54人 group)
- 维权网 (Rights Defense Network), English edition of the same report (“Sentenced to 6 years, 54 people: … Zhang Xiuqin …”), August 31, 2026
Media profile & archive: Zhang Xiuqin (张秀琴) — Media Profile & Archive