Yu Mei (余梅) is a Falun Gong practitioner from Chikan District, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, reported to have been in state custody since her arrest on September 16, 2024. She was tried on March 19, 2025, and sentenced to three years in prison by the Chikan District Court in Zhanjiang. No charge has been publicly reported in available sources.
Background
Yu Mei was born in 1967 and lives in Chikan District, Zhanjiang City. According to the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) Prisoners of Conscience database and Minghui.org, she began practicing Falun Gong in 1997. Both sources describe a long history of detention: she has been held in detention centers, a labor camp, and prison over the years, and Minghui.org reports that she suffered severe mistreatment during earlier detentions, including torture that at times left her life in danger. Her husband died in 2006 at under forty years old, which Minghui.org attributes to depression brought on by the pressure of her persecution. (These accounts come from practitioner-run outlets and have not been independently verified.)
The 2024 case
On the morning of September 16, 2024, Yu Mei and fellow Falun Gong practitioner Wu Shaochuan were taken by police from the Chikan District Public Security Bureau — officers from the Haitian and Cunjin police stations — while shopping at Guanghui Market in Chikan District. About ten officers also searched both women’s homes the same day.
The two women were placed in the Zhanjiang City Detention Center, and their case was transferred to the Chikan District Procuratorate and then to the Chikan District Court. On March 19, 2025, they were tried at the Chikan District Court. Both were subsequently sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. No charge was made public in the available reports.
Earlier detentions (as reported by Minghui.org)
- In August 2016, Yu Mei was detained after sending text messages about Falun Gong. In December 2017, the Chikan District Court sentenced her to four years in prison; she served the term in Guangdong Women’s Prison.
- In May 2023, she and Wu Shaochuan were detained for 15 days after speaking with members of the public about Falun Gong.
Current status
Yu Mei is listed in the Rights Defense Network (维权网) Issue 131 roster of reported current-custody cases (roster cutoff August 31, 2026) in the “Sentenced to 3 years” group. The CHRD database record (updated November 10, 2025) describes a three-year sentence with the term ending September 15, 2027; the record’s separate release-date field shows May 19, 2027 — the two fields are inconsistent, and neither is published here as a confirmed release date.
Sources
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) Prisoners of Conscience database — record for 余梅 (Yu Mei).
- Minghui.org, October 17, 2025 — report on the sentencing of Yu Mei and Wu Shaochuan to three years: minghui.org
- Rights Defense Network (维权网) Issue 131 roster, Chinese and English editions — “Sentenced to 3 years, 110 people” group.
Media profile & archive: Yu Mei (余梅) — Media Profile & Archive