(Minghui.org) A woman in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, was released on November 3, 2025, after serving a 3.5-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Zhang Juan was arrested on April 16, 2022, for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was indicted on August 10, 2022. She was tried in the Haizhou District Court on May 29, 2023 and convicted on August 18, 2023. She appealed with the Lianyungang City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original verdict.
Ms. Zhang was transferred to Nantong Women’s Prison in January 2024. In the first two months, in order to force her to renounce Falun Gong, the guards didn’t allow her to buy toilet paper and forbade others from giving her any. In the summer, they didn’t let her shower.
In addition to the physical abuse, Ms. Zhang was also forced to read books and watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. The guards had frequent “talks” with her and instigated the inmates to abuse her in attempts to make her renounce her faith. She was not deterred.