71-Year-Old Woman Jailed to Serve a Two-Year Term Given in 2016 for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A 71-year-old woman in Linqu County, Shandong Province was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on September 5, 2025, to serve a two-year term she was given in 2016 for her faith in Falun Gong.

Ms. Zhou Guihua’s ordeal stemmed from her arrest in January 2016, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong in a park. The police raided her home and confiscated many of her personal belongings. She was interrogated at the Beiguan Police Station and then admitted to the Weifang City Detention Center the next day. After two weeks of detention, Ms. Zhou suffered dangerously high blood pressure and a rapid heart beat. She fainted several times and was released on bail. The police still submitted her case to the Linqu County Procuratorate, which indicted her on April 8.

Ms. Zhou stood trial at the Linqu County Court on April 27, 2016. During the trial, she recounted how her health improved after taking up Falun Gong. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. The prosecutor accused Ms. Zhou of being a “repeat offender,” citing her 15-day detention in 2000 and a one-year forced labor camp term in 2009 for practicing Falun Gong. Her lawyer argued that she didn’t commit any crime in practicing her faith and her past persecution shouldn’t be used against her.

The judge held another hearing on Ms. Zhou’s case on May 16, 2016, and sentenced her to two years with a 5,000-yuan fine on June 7 that year. She appealed, but the appeals court ruled to uphold her original verdict.

To avoid being taken to the prison, Ms. Zhou was forced to live away from home for three years. After she returned home in 2019, the court made four attempts over the next two years to put her in prison. She was denied admission each time due to her poor health. On the morning of December 9, 2021, as soon as Ms. Zhou took her grandchild to school, the police arrested her again and took her to the Weifang City Second Hospital for another physical exam. She was still found to be unfit for detention.

The police arrested Ms. Zhou again in late August 2025, and took her to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on September 5, 2025, even after she again failed the physical exam.

Past Persecution

Ms. Zhou and her husband, Mr. Ma Lianjun, both took up Falun Gong in 1998. Her uterine tumor, lymphoma, and sciatica soon disappeared. Her husband also recovered from heart disease and high blood pressure.

After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution in 1999, Ms. Zhou was repeatedly arrested and detained. Fearing the persecution, her husband stopped practicing Falun Gong. Yet the police still harassed him from time to time. His previous medical conditions relapsed due to the mental stress, and he died in 2003.

Ms. Zhou went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in March 2000. She was arrested on Tiananmen Square and taken back to Linqu. Officers from the Nanguan Police Station restrained her in a metal chair for two days, with her arms cuffed behind her back. She wasn’t allowed to sleep during the time. She was released on the third day.

Ms. Zhou returned to Beijing in October 2000 to protest the non-stop police harassment. She was arrested again and detained for 12 days. After she was released, her husband’s workplace, the Linqu County Construction Bank, didn’t allow him to return to work and forced him to stay home and monitor Ms. Zhou. They threatened to fire him and their son if she went to Beijing again.

Ms. Zhou was arrested again on January 28, 2004, and taken to a brainwashing center. The Linqu County 610 Office kept her family in the dark concerning her arrest. It took her family several days to find out about her whereabouts.

In the brainwashing center, Ms. Zhou was monitored around the clock and forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong and its founder. As it was just weeks before the Chinese New Year, her family paid the authorities 1,000 yuan in exchange for her release.

Ms. Zhou’s next arrest was in April 2009, after she was reported for raising awareness about the persecution. Officers from the Linqu County Domestic Security Office and Nanguan Police Station ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, computer, printer and 600 yuan in cash.

After she was taken to the Nanguan Police Station, Ms. Zhou’s arms were handcuffed behind her back and she was restrained in a metal chair. She wasn’t allowed to sleep, eat, or use the restroom. Two officers took turns interrogating and beating her. They also stomped on her legs. She was covered with injuries as a result. After two days of torture, Ms. Zhou was taken to the local detention center. One month later, she was given a one-year labor camp term. While held at the local labor camp, she was forced to work without pay, watch propaganda videos, and sit on a small stool for long hours. She was also subjected to sleep deprivation.