Yao Zhou (姚洲) is a Falun Gong practitioner from Changde City, Hunan Province. Born in 1972, she worked as a first-level administrative law-enforcement officer (一级行政执法员) at the Wuling District Tax Bureau in Changde.
According to reporting by 维权网 (Rights Defense Network), Yao was criminally detained on December 26, 2023, by the Wuling branch of the Changde Public Security Bureau and held at the Changde Detention Center. Minghui.org reported that she was among more than 30 Changde practitioners swept up in a police operation in the early hours of November 30, 2023; those detained were first taken to a brainwashing center at Xin’an Middle School, and several — including Yao — were later transferred to the Baiheshan Detention Center.
On November 12, 2025, the Taoyuan County Court tried Yao together with nine other practitioners, including her co-defendant Liu Xianju (刘先菊). Judges Jing Zhiheng, Long Zhijun, and Zhang Wen presided. Yao and Liu each received three years and six months in prison and a 5,000-yuan fine. Her reported term runs to June 25, 2027.
Minghui reported in December 2025 that appeals were pending and described Yao’s detention status immediately after the trial as unclear. In its August 2026 monthly report, 维权网 listed Yao among the political prisoners and prisoners of conscience it reports as currently in custody.
Sources: 维权网, “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); Minghui.org, “Changde City, Hunan Province: Ten Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison” (December 4, 2025); 维权网 Issue 131 monthly prisoner report (August 31, 2026). Case details are attributed to the reporting outlets; no official court document for this case is publicly available.
Media profile & archive: Yao Zhou (姚洲) — Media Profile & Archive