Sichuan, 84-Year-Old Falun Gong Grandmother Jailed Despite Poor Health

The woman was arrested for giving an amulet to a fellow villager. Two medical examinations declared her unfit for detention.

By Ding Bohai

May 23, 2025

Political indoctrination at Sichuan Provincial Women’s Prison, where Liu Faqun is currently jailed. From Weibo.

Liu Faqun, an elderly Falun Gong practitioner who claims to be 84 (her ID card says she is 82), faced severe persecution by the authorities in Gulin County, Sichuan Province. Her ordeal began on November 24, 2022, when she was followed by the police while buying groceries. The officers noted that she had given a Falun Gong amulet to a fellow villager.

Later that day, her home was ransacked, and the police detained her. She was released at night, but when she returned home, she discovered the police had taken her Falun Gong books and amulets as well as her ID documents and cash.

A few months later, in February 2023, the Dongcheng Police Station in Gulin County called Liu several times for intense interrogations. Afterward, the Gulin County Procuratorate said they wished to conduct further questioning. Officers from the Procuratorate visited Liu’s home to take photographs. They assigned a lawyer to assist her, who communicated their stance to Liu: “If you plead guilty, you can avoid prosecution.” Liu responded, “I am not guilty and will not plead guilty.”

In the first of two trials, Liu struggled to hear the prosecutor’s reading but nonetheless maintained her plea of not guilty. At the subsequent trial, prior to the judge’s arrival, her lawyer informed her that it would be brief. “You did not plead guilty in the first trial, but you will be asked to do so this time,” the lawyer stated. Liu refused again, leading to the Gulin County Court of Sichuan Province sentencing her on December 25, 2024, to four years in prison and a 30,000 yuan fine. The Luzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Sichuan Province later upheld the unjust ruling on January 16, 2025.

However, the detention center denied Liu’s admission due to her poor health. Gulin County’s People Hospital verified this, leading to Liu receiving medical parole. Following the appeal, a second examination revealed that the doctors deemed her unfit for detention.

Gulin County’s People Hospital. From Weibo.

This year, the Gulin Justice Bureau reviewed Liu’s case and sent an “investigation and evaluation opinion” to the Gulin County Court, stating that her medical parole was “socially harmful and unsuitable for community correction.” Consequently, on April 14, 2025, the Gulin County Court revoked Liu’s medical parole in light of the Justice Bureau’s opinion.

On the afternoon of May 9, 2025, officers from the Dongcheng Police Station in Gulin County came to take her to Luzhou City Detention Center, but Liu and her family resisted. Her son stated that his mother was seriously ill. The police responded that no matter how sick she was, she had to go. She still had to be sent in, even if an ambulance had to be called.

On May 13, 2025, Grandmother Liu was transferred to the Sichuan Longquan Women’s Prison in Chengdu. Her family is concerned that she may not survive the detention.

Source: bitterwinter.org