(Minghui.org) Ms. Chen Yanqiu was forced to sit on a small stool during the day except when she was allowed to tend to her personal hygiene and tidy her cell. She told her family when they visited her at the Hebei Province Women’s Prison on May 15, 2026, that her buttocks almost festered.
The 58-year-old resident of Chengde City, Hebei Province, is serving a four-year term because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She said to her loved ones that she was also forced to study materials defaming Falun Gong and she was ordered to renounce her faith.
Ms. Chen, who made a living selling boxed lunches to construction workers, was arrested on July 12, 2024, and sentenced to nine years in May 2025. She appealed with the Chengde City Intermediate Court, which ruled on October 10 to reduce her prison sentence to four years. She was admitted to the Fourteenth Division of Hebei Province Women’s Prison on October 16, 2025.
Her family called the prison shortly after she was admitted to schedule visits with her. They were told they had to wait two or three months before any visits would be allowed. No reason was given.
Ms. Chen’s family and lawyer went to the Hebei Province Prison Administration Bureau and the Jizhongnnan Procuratorate in mid-November 2025 to file a complaint against the Hebei Province Women’s Prison. The prison contacted the family in December saying that they could now book visits online but that only Ms. Chen’s spouse, children, grandchildren, grandparents, aunts, and uncles would be allowed to see her.
Her family visited her on May 15, 2026, and learned how she was being abused.
Hebei Woman's Nine-Year Wrongful Term Reduced to Four Years Upon Appeal
58-Year-Old Hebei Woman Appealing 9-Year Prison Sentence for Her Faith in Falun Gong
58-Year-Old Hebei Woman Stands Trial for Practicing Falun Gong