(Minghui.org) A 62-year-old woman in Wuhan City, Hubei Province is facing prosecution for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Hu Yaping was arrested on June 11, 2025 by Jianghan District Police Department officers. She was put on criminal detention at the Wuhan City First Detention Center the next day. On August 20, the police submitted Ms. Hu’s case to the Jianghan District Procuratorate which then transferred her case to the Hanyang District Procuratorate on September 2.
Ms. Hu was the director of the Infection Control Department of the Dongxihu District People’s Hospital. After she took up Falun Gong in 1996, her heart condition, neck problem, anemia and ovarian cyst all disappeared. With better health, her work performance also improved and she won many awards.
After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Hu remained firm in her faith and was fired by the hospital. She was repeatedly arrested and detained at various brainwashing centers.
During one brainwashing center detention, she was held in an isolated room. The windows were covered with newspapers. There was only one small stool for whomever came to “work on her.” She could only stand in a small circle drawn with chalk. Outside of the circle, the ground was written with the name of Falun Gong’s founder.
The local 610 Office arranged staffers to talk to Ms. Hu around the clock in three shifts. They threatened to send her to a forced labor camp, telling her that no one would know it if she was persecuted to death. She was forced to stand for three days without sleep. During the time, she wasn’t allowed to sit, squat or even move. Her legs and feet became extremely swollen as a result. She could no longer wear her shoes and the brainwashing center staff refused to provide her with a pair of slippers. She stood on the concrete ground barefooted. She later fainted due to the abuse. Her blood pressure was so low that it couldn’t be detected.
Ms. Hu was arrested again on October 15, 2009, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was first taken to the Wujiashan New Village Police Station and then to the Etouwan Brainwashing Center in the evening.
While eating out at a restaurant on October 12, 2021, Ms. Hu told a young man sitting next to her about the health benefits of Falun Gong. The young man seemed to be very receptive and said he had heard about Falun Gong before.
When Ms. Hu was leaving the restaurant, she was stopped by two officers, who showed her the flyer she’d given the young man. They said she was reported and pushed her into their cruiser. She was taken to the Wansongyuan Street Police Station for interrogation. Her handbag and cell phone were confiscated. She told the police that no law in China has ever criminalized Falun Gong and that she didn’t do anything wrong in practicing Falun Gong or in telling people about it. She emphasized that if the listener didn’t agree with her, they didn’t have to take the materials from her, and her giving out the Falun Gong flyer didn’t harm anyone.
A police director searched Ms. Hu’s bag and seized her house key. They ransacked her place in the afternoon with the assistance of residential committee staff. Her Falun Gong books, computer, many Falun Gong materials, and even DVDs of TV programs based on traditional books were confiscated.
After the home raid, Ms. Hu was taken back to the police station and held there overnight. The police forcibly collected her fingerprints and took photos of her the next day. They then took her to the hospital for a physical exam. She was taken to the Wuhan City First Detention Center in the evening. The guards refused to accept her because her physical exam wasn’t complete. The police took her back to the hospital the next day, and she was later still denied admission by the detention center due to her medical condition. She was released on bail on the evening of October 14, 2021, after paying a 1,000-yuan bail bond.
Upon returning home, Ms. Hu wrote to the police and demanded that they dismiss her case. When her one-year bail condition expired in October 2022, she didn’t receive any document to say that her bail condition was lifted. The police didn’t return the 1,000-yuan bond either.
Ms. Hu was arrested again on December 26, 2023 for distributing Falun Gong materials in a residential area. She was taken to the Wujiashan Street Police Station and had her home ransacked. A day later, she was taken to the Wuhan City First Lockup, where she was detained for 10 days.
When Ms. Hu was released on January 6, 2024, the police attempted to take her to a brainwashing center. After she refused to go, they installed a surveillance camera outside of her home.
Starting in April 2024, unidentified personnel appeared outside of Ms. Hu’s apartment building. Most of them were young men in plainclothes. They monitored her daily activities around the clock in two shifts. They followed her when she went out. She questioned them as to who ordered them to follow her. They refused to answer and said she could file complaints against them if she wanted.
Ms. Hu filed a complaint with the Wujiashan Street Police Station. She also mailed copies of the complaint to the district government and residential committee offices. The people following her left on May 18, 2024.