Hengyang City, Hunan Province: 11 Sentenced to 2-8 Years for Practicing Falun Gong

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Hengyang City, Hunan Province: 11 Sentenced to 2-8 Years for Practicing Falun Gong

April 30, 2026 | By a Minghui correspondent in Hunan Province, China

(Minghui.org) Eleven residents of Hengyang City, Hunan Province, were sentenced on December 31, 2026, for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Mr. Zhou Zixian, 70, was sentenced to eight years and fined 30,000 yuan.

Ms. Hu Xiaoyun, 60, was sentenced to seven years and fined 30,000 yuan.

Mr. Li Yuwen, 59, was sentenced to four years and fined 20,000 yuan.

Ms. Fu Suilan, 58, was sentenced to three years and fined 20,000 yuan.

Ms. Wang Yuanxiu, 71, was sentenced to two years and fined 20,000 yuan.

Ms. Yin Chaoqun, 59, and Ms. Tang Hengyan, 61, were both sentenced to three years with five years probation and were each fined 20,000 yuan.

Mr. Deng Kunhe, 52, and Ms. Zhou Junhui, 55, were both sentenced to three years with four years probation and were each fined 20,000 yuan.

Mr. Cao Chenhui, 42, was sentenced to two and a half years with three years probation and a 10,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Jiang Zhen, 40, who is Mr. Deng’s wife, was sentenced to two years with two years probation and was fined 10,000 yuan.

The eleven practitioners were arrested around April 2024 and they were indicted on September 30, 2024. They stood trial in the Zhengxiang District Court on April 15, 2025, and were convicted on December 31 that year. Presiding judge Tang Wenjing, judges Zeng Yourong and Luo Zhenyu, clerks Yi Lijun and Gu Hui, as well as prosecutor Cheng Yihui and his assistant Zhang Wei, signed the verdicts.

The prosecution evidence against Mr. Zhou, Mr. Deng, Ms. Yin, Mr. Cao, and Ms. Jiang were the fact that they worked together to produce audio- and video-files to submit to Zhengjian.org (a website run by Falun Gong practitioners outside of China). More specially, Mr. Zhou organized the production, Ms. Yin and Mr. Deng produced the files, Mr. Cao provided technical support, and Ms. Jiang offered a place for them to discuss their experiences.

The other six sentenced practitioners were implicated because they had contact with the first five practitioners. There were also additional prosecution evidence against Ms. Hu and Ms. Wang, including 1) they read Zhuan Falun (th,e main book of Falun Gong) together; 2) they distributed 33 copies of a periodical Zhengjian.org, near a local middle school on March 17-18, 2024; 3) they both had Falun Gong materials at home; 4) Ms. Hu was previously sentenced to one year for practicing Falun Gong and was thus deemed a “repeat offender.”

Ms. Tang’s verdict cited another piece of evidence against her – she compiled some Falun Gong related materials around 2018 that the authorities claimed were “threats to destroy the police and judicial system.”

The practitioners’ lawyers demanded their acquittal during the trial because no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and it is legal to submit Falun Gong themed files to Zhengjian.org or distribute Falun Gong informational materials. The prosecutors recommended heavy sentences, and the judges indeed convicted all of the practitioners.

Following their arrests, the four male practitioners were taken to the Hengdong County Detention Center and the seven women were taken to the Hengyang City Women’s Detention Center. Ms. Wang was later put on residential surveillance at a local hospital due to some health conditions, before she was taken back to the Hengyang City Women’s Detention Center. Since her two-year term ended in April 2026, she’s likely have been released.

Ms. Zhou was released on bail on April 3, 2024, and she is likely serving her probation at home. Ms. Jiang was released on house arrest on May 20, 2024, and it is unclear whether she was taken back into custody to serve the remainder of her two-year term.

It remains to be investigated whether the rest of the practitioners have been transferred to prison. Ms. Hu’s family reported that she’s very weak after going on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. She also accidentally hit her head and sustained injuries.

See the related reports for details of the eleven practitioners’ arrests, indictment, trials, as well as their experiences in practicing Falun Gong and how they were persecuted for upholding their faith.

Mr. Zhou Zixian