(Minghui.org) Ms. Qi Ling, 67, from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was sentenced to three years and nine months on August 4, 2025 because she practices Falun Gong. Her family is preparing to appeal the verdict on her behalf.
Ms. Qi was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong in her neighborhood on the evening of June 5, 2024. Three officers waited outside of her home the next morning, attempting to arrest her. When she didn’t step out during the day the police broke into her place in the early evening and cut off her water and power supply. They also confiscated her computer, cellphone, media player and Falun Gong books.
The police submitted Ms. Qi’s case to the Hongshan District Procuratorate and prosecutor Zhang Lirui indicted her. Judge Guo Chunzhi of the Hongshan District Court was assigned to her case.
Ms. Qi stood trial on March 26, 2025. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. She also testified in her own defense. Her family was notified on August 4, 2025 that she was sentenced to three years and nine months. She is still held at the Wuhan City First Detention Center, while awaiting the result of her appeals.
Ms. Qi took up Falun Gong in May 1994 and soon recovered from her many ailments, including severe anemia and a stomach condition. For upholding her faith after the persecution started in 1999, she was given a one-year forced labor camp term and a 3.5-year prison term. Her latest arrest came only four years after she was released from prison.
Ms. Qi went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on December 8, 1999. She was arrested and held at the Hubei Province Liaison Office in Beijing. The police beat her and handcuffed her behind her back. The police escorted her back to Wuhan and held her at the Wuhan City Women’s Detention Center for 27 days.
Ms. Qi was arrested again on May 12, 2000. During the seven-month detention at the Wuhan City Women’s Detention Center, she was tied up in a spread-eagle position on a wood board around the clock. The guards stripped her pants and cut a hole in the wood board to collect her urine and excrement.
The Wuchang District Police Department gave Ms. Qi a one-year term at the Hewan Forced Labor Camp in early 2001. She was watched by the labor camp inmates around the clock, forced to watch propaganda videos that slandered Falun Gong and ordered to renounce Falun Gong. Her spine was fractured due to the torture and she was incapacitated for six months.
Ms. Qi’s third arrest was on December 10, 2006 for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was held at the Erzhigou Women’s Lockup for fifteen days and then taken to the Yangyuan Brainwashing Center, where she was held for three more days.
Her long term persecution brought tremendous mental distress to her father and took a toll on his health. He passed away in 2008.
Ms. Qi was arrested for the fourth time on December 21, 2013. While she was held at the Yangyuan Brainwashing Center for an unknown length of time, she was monitored by the staffers around the clock and ordered to write statements to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Qi’s fifth arrest was on December 23, 2016, after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was sentenced to 3.5 years in the Hubei Province Women’s Prison. She served the full term and was released on June 22, 2020.
Four Years After Serving a Wrongful Prison Term, Hubei Woman Arrested for Her Faith Again