Zhang Zhenyi (张贞一)
Zhang Zhenyi (张贞一) is a retired mathematics teacher from Kunming, Yunnan Province, who was admitted to the Yunnan Provincial No. 2 Women’s Prison on April 2, 2026, to serve a two-year sentence connected to her practice of Falun Gong.
Background
Born in 1947 in Kunming, Zhang Zhenyi taught mathematics at Pu’er Middle School (普洱中学). According to reporting by Minghui, she began practicing Falun Gong in 1998.
Her husband, Su Zesheng (苏泽生), was a physician at the Ning’er Hani-Yi Autonomous County Hospital who also practices Falun Gong. In December 2024, the Xishan District Court in Kunming sentenced him to four years in prison with a 40,000-yuan fine; his appeal was upheld, and he was admitted to the Yunnan Provincial First Prison in the second half of 2025.
Detention and trial
On November 15, 2023, Zhang Zhenyi was arrested at her home together with her husband. She was released on bail the following day after a medical examination found dangerously high blood pressure; her husband remained in custody. In March 2024, the Xishan District Procuratorate indicted the couple.
On August 28, 2025, the Xishan District Court sentenced Zhang Zhenyi to two years in prison with a 20,000-yuan fine. The presiding judge was Pu Huijun; judges Zhan Wenxi and Cao Qingjie and clerk Zhang Shiman also signed the verdict, according to the same reporting. She appealed to the Kunming Intermediate Court, which upheld the verdict. The specific charge was not disclosed in the available record, and no official court document has been located.
Imprisonment
After her trial, Zhang Zhenyi was permitted to return home while authorities evaluated her fitness for detention. Medical examinations on March 15, 2026, and shortly afterward found her unfit. On March 30, 2026, police took her for a third medical examination and then to the Kunming detention center; the detention center transferred her to the Xinhua Hospital for inpatient care the same day. On April 2, 2026, she was admitted to the Yunnan Provincial No. 2 Women’s Prison (云南省第二女子监狱). Her sentence term runs through March 29, 2028.
Current status
As of the most recent dated records — her admission to the Yunnan Provincial No. 2 Women’s Prison on April 2, 2026, and her listing among currently detained political prisoners in the August 2026 monthly report of the Chinese-language human-rights site 维权网 — Zhang Zhenyi is currently imprisoned, with her term scheduled to end March 29, 2028.
Media archive for this case: Zhang Zhenyi (张贞一) — Media Profile & Archive