Case Details and Biography of Ms. Zhou Shuhua, a 74-Year-Old Falun Gong Practitioner from Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison
((Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On September 1, 2026, this website learned of the case details and biography of Ms. Zhou Shuhua, a 74-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, who was sentenced to 2 years in prison. The information is now reported as follows:)
Zhou Shuhua: A female Falun Gong practitioner from Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, born in October 1952, she is 74 years old in 2026. Because she persisted in her Falun Gong faith, she has been arrested many times, was previously sentenced to 7 years in prison, and suffered torture, abuse, and mistreatment in prison.
On September 12, 2023, Zhou Shuhua was arrested by the Zhengyang Police Station for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was released on bail pending trial from the detention center due to high blood pressure. She was subsequently framed and sent to the Longsha District Procuratorate, and in October 2025 was sentenced to 2 years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan by the Jianhua District Court. Due to her health, she was never imprisoned. On May 6, 2026, she was again arrested by police and taken to the detention center, and in June was sent to the Harbin Women's Prison. Upon entering the prison, she had severe high blood pressure but was nevertheless imprisoned. She is currently being held in the prison hospital. Her sentence runs until May 5, 2028.
Related Reporting
Sep 1, 2026
China Human Rights Defenders: Interpretation of China's Policies, Laws and Regulations (August 2026) (Issue 24)
The article reviews a series of newly introduced measures covering social governance, livelihoods and rights protection. They include a one-year campaign against organized crime beginning in July 2026, action against matchmaking abuses, abolition of cuisine-industry titles, cleanup of clan-organization branches, noise penalties, agricultural irrigation safeguards, new exit-and-entry provisions, housing provident fund revisions and a second review of the Lawyers Law draft. It emphasizes implementation challenges.
Sep 1, 2026
Rights Defense Commentary: Second Review of the Lawyers Law: If Lawyers’ Own Human Rights Cannot Be Protected, How Can We Talk About the Rights of Litigants?
Guest commentator Mu Jiangshan argues that the second-reviewed draft amendment to the Lawyers Law offers mainly principles and slogans while failing to address local authorities’ interference, weak complaint and accountability mechanisms, and professional retaliation against lawyers in sensitive cases. The article also criticizes formalistic criminal defense and insufficiently distributed legal-service resources, warning that without independent protection for lawyers, litigants’ rights and judicial fairness remain largely theoretical.
Aug 31, 2026
Fujian human rights defender Xiang Jinfeng, sentenced to 4 years, released after completing his sentence on August 28, 2026
Fujian human rights defender Xiang Jinfeng was released from Yong’an Prison on August 28, 2026, after completing a four-year sentence. He was criminally detained on August 29, 2022, and sentenced before the 2024 Spring Festival on unspecified charges, possibly related to online statements. Xiang had previously faced questioning, travel restrictions, and passport confiscation over his rights advocacy and political discussions.
Aug 30, 2026
China Rights Defense Network: Monthly Report on Political Prisoners and Prisoners of Conscience in Mainland China (August 31, 2026), Issue 131 (1,638 people in total)
The Rights Defense Network Information Center released its 131st monthly report on August 31, 2026, stating that 40 people on the previous roster had completed their sentences and been released, 30 had new developments while in prison, six had been newly criminally detained or forcibly disappeared, 28 had been newly sentenced, and one had died in prison; the report lists a total of 1,638 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in custody.