Liu Benzhi / 刘本芝 is a school teacher and Falun Gong practitioner from Nanshan Community in Linkou County, Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province. According to case records, she was detained in May 2023 while distributing Falun Gong informational materials, released on bail, went into hiding, was taken back into custody in August 2024, and was subsequently sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Her term is recorded as running to February 2027, and she is reported to be held in Mudanjiang City.
Decades of earlier harassment
The case record describes a long history of targeting that predates the 2023 detention. In January 2005, officers from the Linkou County domestic-security division raided her home, seized Falun Gong books and materials, interrogated her, and — according to the account — extorted 3,000 yuan from her family before releasing her.
On April 15, 2005, while she was tutoring two students after class, officers from the Nanshan police station took her to her home, where other officers were already waiting. The account describes a home raid, an interrogation at the police department — including handcuffing and physical abuse — and a fifteen-day detention. Her family was, according to the report, extorted repeatedly: 9,000 yuan under threat of a three-year forced-labor term, 6,000 yuan through an intermediary, and additional sums tied to her son and to the police-station chief. After her release on May 31, 2005, her school barred her from resuming work.
Further incidents recorded in the case file include a May 2008 summons by the county “610” office for a so-called exit survey, an October 2017 five-day detention in Mudanjiang City, and repeated police phone harassment in 2019 and 2022. These accounts come from the practitioner-community case report and have not been independently verified.
The 2023 detention and bail
On the morning of May 11, 2023, Liu was detained at a fair in Linkou County’s Gucheng area while giving out Falun Gong informational materials. She was first taken to the Gucheng police station and then to the Linkou County Police Department, where — according to the report — police forcibly collected her biometric data, including photographs, fingerprints, voice, and iris scans. While she was held in the department’s basement, officers raided her home around noon, seizing a computer, printer, mobile phone, and Falun Gong books.
On May 12, police took her to the Linkou County Hospital for a physical examination and then placed her under fifteen days of detention, during which she was interrogated twice. On May 26, 2023, she was processed for release on bail and sent home.
Bail period, hiding, and the 2024 re-arrest
While on bail, Liu and her family were repeatedly harassed by police. On November 1, 2023, she was taken to the Yabuli Town Procuratorate in Shangzhi City for a deposition. After returning home, she decided to go into hiding to avoid further detention.
In August 2024, she was taken back into custody. By mid-November 2024, it was learned that a local court had sentenced her to two and a half years in prison. The specific court, the formal charge, and the exact detention facility are not stated in the available record. She is reported to be held in Mudanjiang City, which administers Linkou County.
Current status
Liu Benzhi is reported to be imprisoned in Mudanjiang City, serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence recorded as running to February 2027. No official court verdict or state-media coverage of her case has been located; the case record rests on the CHRD Prisoners of Conscience database entry and the practitioner-community case reports (in Chinese and English), which agree on her identity, the detention dates, the sentence, and the locations.
Identity note: Liu Benzhi is not to be confused with other people of similar names — including 刘学参, the educator 刘彭芝, and the painter 刘培芝. These are different people and are not linked to this case.
Sources: The Chinese Human Rights Defenders Prisoners of Conscience database (individual record for 刘本芝 / “Liu Benzhi,” entered December 15, 2024), and the practitioner-affiliated case report (Minghui, November 22, 2024) with its English version (November 29, 2024). Accounts of abuse and procedural characterizations in the practitioner-affiliated reports remain source-attributed; no official court verdict or state-media coverage of the case has been located.
Media and documentation archive: Media and documentation archive for Liu Benzhi / 刘本芝