Case summary
Yang Shuzhen (杨淑珍) is a Falun Gong practitioner from Jingyu County, Jilin Province, who was sentenced to four years in prison in early 2025 for practicing Falun Gong. Reporting by Minghui.org, a Falun Gong-affiliated information network, and by People News, an outlet publishing journalism by Dajiyuan reporters, places her in the Jilin Women’s Prison as of 2026.
Arrest and prosecution
Minghui reports that Yang was arrested at her home in July 2024 by officers of the Jingyu County Domestic Security Division — one Minghui report gives July 10, another July 15 — together with fellow practitioner Fu Yumei. Their homes were ransacked, and Falun Gong books, paper currency printed with Falun Gong information, and computers were confiscated. She was held at the Baishan City Detention Center and denied family visits, according to Minghui. The case was submitted to the Jingyu County Procuratorate, and Minghui reports that her family was notified by the Jingyu County Court on January 29, 2025 that she had been sentenced to four years. She appealed the verdict.
Imprisonment
A People News report published on June 25, 2026, based on reporting by Dajiyuan journalist Li Jiesi, describes Yang, in her fifties, as being held in the Eighth Ward of Jilin Women’s Prison, where she protested the persecution with a hunger strike. The report alleges she was subjected to brutal force-feeding: during one session a tooth was pried out and a tooth fell into her lung, and she was rushed to a hospital, where doctors removed part of her lung to extract the tooth. After losing her teeth she could not eat normally, and police provided her with one dental implant, according to the report. These torture allegations come from Falun Gong-adjacent reporting and have not been independently verified.
Custody status
Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 monthly report on in-custody political prisoners and prisoners of conscience (August 31, 2026) lists Yang Shuzhen in its “Sentenced to 4 years” group — a dated record of her reported custody status as of August 2026.
Media coverage
For a full archive of media and source records on this case, see: Yang Shuzhen (杨淑珍) — Media Archive.
Disambiguation
Several other Falun Gong practitioners named Yang Shuzhen appear in older case records — including a 2002 ten-year sentence in Botou City, Hebei; a 2003 ten-year sentence in Nanpi County, Hebei; a 2012 case in Hegang City, Heilongjiang; and a 2022 four-year sentence in Qujing City, Yunnan — all separate cases and separate persons.
Sources
- Minghui.org, “Jilin Woman Sentenced to Four Years for Practicing Falun Gong” (February 18, 2025) — http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2025/2/18/225529.html
- Minghui.org, “Additional Persecution News from China – September 11, 2024 (8 Reports)” (September 19, 2024) — http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2024/9/19/220822.html
- People News, “Brutal Force-Feeding” (June 25, 2026) — https://www.peoplenewstoday.com/news/en/2026/06/25/1146274.html
- Rights Defense Network / 维权网, Issue 131 monthly report (August 31, 2026) — https://chinatruth.net/en/article/%E7%BB%B4%E6%9D%83%E7%BD%91-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%99%86%E5%9C%A8%E6%8A%BC%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E7%8A%AF-%E8%89%AF%E5%BF%83%E7%8A%AF%E6%9C%88%E5%BA%A6%E6%9C%88%E5%BA%A6%E6%8A%A5%E5%91%8A-2026%E5%B9%B48%E6%9C%8831%E6%97%A5-%E7%AC%AC131%E6%9C%9F-%E5%85%B11638%E4%BA%BA-009b1