Person profile: Yao Zhou (姚洲)
Media Archive: Yao Zhou (姚洲)
This archive preserves the source record for the case of Yao Zhou (姚洲), a Falun Gong practitioner from Changde, Hunan, sentenced to three and a half years in prison in November 2025.
Case chronology
- November 30, 2023 — Police sweep of more than 30 Changde Falun Gong practitioners between 5 and 7 a.m.; homes ransacked. Detainees taken to a brainwashing center at Xin’an Middle School; Yao later transferred to the Baiheshan Detention Center. (Minghui, December 4, 2025)
- December 26, 2023 — Formal criminal detention by the Wuling branch of the Changde Public Security Bureau; held at the Changde Detention Center. (维权网, December 3, 2025)
- November 12, 2025 — Trial at the Taoyuan County Court with nine co-defendants, including Liu Xianju (刘先菊); judges Jing Zhiheng, Long Zhijun, Zhang Wen. Yao sentenced to 3 years 6 months and fined 5,000 yuan; reported term to June 25, 2027. Appeals reported pending. (维权网, December 3, 2025; Minghui, December 4, 2025)
- August 31, 2026 — Listed by 维权网 in its monthly report on political prisoners and prisoners of conscience reported to be currently in custody, in the three-year-six-month-sentence group. (维权网 Issue 131)
Source records
- 维权网 (Rights Defense Network) — “获刑3年6个月的湖南常德市法轮功学员姚洲女士的案情及简历” (December 3, 2025). Dedicated case record: identity (female, born 1972), occupation (一级行政执法员, Wuling District Tax Bureau), detention date (2023-12-26), sentence (3.5 years, ¥5,000 fine, Taoyuan County Court), term end (2027-06-25). Article
- Minghui.org — “Changde City, Hunan Province: Ten Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison” (December 4, 2025). Corroborates the November 12, 2025 trial and sentencing; adds sweep details, the Xin’an Middle School brainwashing center, Baiheshan Detention Center transfer, and notes appeals pending and Yao’s post-trial detention status unclear. Article
- 维权网 Issue 131 (August 31, 2026) — monthly 在押 political-prisoner roster; 姚洲 in the 3y6m band, adjacent to 刘先菊. Custody-classification source.
Provenance and limits
- The dedicated case record (source 1) and the English-language account (source 2) come from independent rights/practitioner reporting; no official court document for this case is publicly available. All case facts are attributed to the reporting outlets.
- The two detention dates (November 30, 2023 sweep per Minghui; December 26, 2023 formal criminal detention per 维权网) describe compatible stages of the same detention, not a contradiction.
- Minghui’s December 2025 note that Yao’s post-trial detention status was unclear stands against the August 2026 roster’s in-custody listing; both are dated and preserved here.
Person profile: Yao Zhou (姚洲)