Persecution of Falun Gong Adherents Continues as Thousands Reported Imprisoned, Tortured This Year

Human rights magazine Bitter Winter said that this type of verdict is “now so frequent that the world scarcely pays attention.”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that combines meditative exercises with the tenets of truth, compassion, and forbearance. Introduced in 1992, Falun Gong became widely popular in China during the late 1990s.
On July 13, Ma was arrested for his beliefs. On Aug. 6, he was subjected to a closed-door trial and sentenced to 18 months in prison, Mingui reported on Nov. 5.
On Nov. 4, Ma was transferred to Lanzhou Prison, a notorious high-security prison. As he begins his sentence, he is already suffering from physical and mental health problems—difficulty walking, growing depression, anxiety, and confusion—as a result of police torture during his detention.
The elderly woman was arrested on Aug. 1 for the crime of “distributing Falun Gong pamphlets” in Guangzhou neighborhoods in April of 2021.
On Sept. 5, Zhao was tried in Haizhu District Court. A human rights lawyer defended Zhao and argued for her acquittal.
However, on Oct. 29, she was sentenced to 42 months in jail and fined 5000 yuan (about $700), according to a Mingui report.
Fan, who once practiced at Wenfeng Community Hospital in Fuyang City, in China’s central Anhui Province, has been arrested seven times, held in brainwashing centers twice, served three sentences in labor camps, and jailed on three separate occasions. She was imprisoned once again in 2022, after serving a seven-year term and a five-year term in the same prison.
Relentless torture left her bedridden and paralyzed for years. Upon returning home, however, she regained some health through her Falun Gong practice.
He said Falun Gong is “a beacon of integrity” in China.