(Minghui.org) Ms. Liu Yulian’s family was kept in the dark regarding her status after the 77-year-old woman was arrested for her faith in Falun Gong. When they asked about her case, the police would only say, “She had been sentenced to three years.”
Ms. Liu of Linqing City, Shandong Province, was on her way to work in the fields on May 12, 2026, when she was seized by Gao Haimin, head of the Linqing City Domestic Security Office, and officers from the Bachalu Police Station. They parked her tricycle at the local pharmacy and took her away. They later ordered her family to deliver clothes for her at the Linqing City Detention Center. When her family inquired about her case status, the police mentioned her prison sentence but refused to provide any further details.
Ms. Liu’s family confirmed that she was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison in the capital of Jinan on May 25, only 13 days after her arrest. They suspect that she was denied due process as is common in Falun Gong cases. They still don’t know if she was ever formally charged, appointed a lawyer, or given a fair trial.
Ms. Liu, who was born in June 1949, began to practice Falun Gong in 1998. Many of her ailments, including a tumor and chronic headaches, soon disappeared. Her husband, Mr. Pan Dongsheng, also took up Falun Gong. After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution in 1999, the couple remained firm in their faith and were repeatedly targeted.
Ms. Liu went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in 2001. She was arrested, escorted back to Linqing, and given two weeks of criminal detention. The police frequently harassed her after she was released, and she was unable to live a normal life.
Ms. Liu and Mr. Pan were both arrested in March 2001. Police officer Wang Junchao hit Mr. Pan on the head and kicked him to the ground. Mr. Pan passed out. He was admitted to the Guan County Detention Center before he came to. Three months later, he was admitted to the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp for a three-year term. He struggled with different medical conditions from being tortured and was unable to eat for nine days in June 2002. Labor camp officials had him taken to the Linqing City Hospital and then called his family to pick him up.
Mr. Pan was arrested again in the fall of 2008 and held in the Linqing City Detention Center for 10 days. When their two children went to pick him up, the guards forced them to hand over all the money they had on them—200 yuan.
Police chief Gao, village official Wang Guangyuan, and four other officers from the Bachalu Police Station broke into Ms. Liu’s home on May 13, 2022. Then they asked her if she was still practicing Falun Gong, she said she was. They raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder, two speakers, three paintings, and several Falun Gong calendars.
The officers handcuffed Ms. Liu and forced her to walk backwards to the police car. When she maintained that she didn’t violate any law by practicing Falun Gong, police chief Gao accused her of “having a bad attitude” and tightened her handcuffs. She was shaking uncontrollably and had elevated blood pressure at the police station, so they removed the handcuffs. She was released around 7 p.m.
Ms. Liu was arrested another time on April 1, 2024, when she was studying the Falun Gong teachings at another practitioner’s home. The police broke in and searched for Falun Gong materials. They attempted to collect samples of blood from the practitioners, but Ms. Liu refused to comply, so the police cut off a strand of her hair. The raid continued until 4 a.m. and the police confiscated a total of 1,640 yuan in cash and over 40 Falun Gong books.
Ms. Liu was taken to the Tangyuan Town Police Station two days later. She fainted when the police tried to take her fingerprints. The police then called her family to take her home. Due to frequent police harassment, she was forced to live away from home for months.
Officers from the Linqing City Domestic Security Office and the Bachalu Police Station went to Ms. Liu’s home on November 13, 2025, and ordered her to go to the Linqing City Procuratorate to sign her case documents. She refused to comply, so they took her there by force. When she began to tremble, they grabbed her hand to fingerprint the documents. When they took her home, they confiscated four Falun Gong books and a media player that she used to do the Falun Gong exercises.