Additional Name(s): 许那
Gender: Female
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Han
Religion or Belief: Falun Gong
Reports of Torture: Yes
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 8 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: July/19/2020
Date of Sentencing: January/14/2022
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Possession of Religious Materials Religious Activity
Nature of Charges: Cult
Xu Na is imprisoned for her religious activity.
On July 19, 2020, public security officials in Beijing municipality detained 13 Falun Gong practitioners, including Xu, living in Beijing for allegedly sharing photos of Beijing street scenes during the COVID-19 pandemic with a publication associated with Falun Gong. Authorities also reportedly seized Falun Gong related materials from the practitioners’ residences.
In December 2021, Xu's original lawyer was disbarred partly in relation to social media posts he made in support of the rights of Falun Gong practitioners.
On January 14, 2022, the Dongcheng People’s Court sentenced Xu to eight years in prison and fined her 20,000 yuan for "organizing or using a cult to undermine implementation of the law" (Art. 300 CCL).
Xu has served prison previously for her religious belief and activity. Xu served five years in prison between 2001 and 2006 for providing accommodation to Falun Gong practitioners visiting Beijing. During this imprisonment, she was tortured and mistreated. Xu was also sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 after being accused of possessing religious materials with intent to distribute.
Related Cases: Li Zongze, Li Lixin, Zheng Yanmei, Zheng Yujie, Deng Jingjing, Meng Qingxia, Li Jiaxuan, Jiao Mengjiao, Zhang Renfei, Liu Qiang
Additional Name(s): 李军才
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Religion or Belief: Christian – Protestant
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 5 Years, 6 Months' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: February/20/2019
Date of Sentencing: January//2021
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Resisting State Interference into Religious Affairs
Nature of Charges: Embezzlement & Fraud
Li Juncai is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On February 20, 2019, authorities in Xinxiang county, Henan province, detained Li, pastor of the house-church Zhongxin Church, alongside three others reportedly for refusing to remove the church's cross and replace a religious sign in the church with a state-approved one. Li was initially charged with “obstructing official business."
In or around January 2021, a court sentenced Li to five years and six months in prison and fined him 50,000 yuan for “misappropriation of funds,” “embezzlement,” “intentionally destroying accounting books,” and "obstructing official business."
"Li Juncai" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
"Pastor Li Juncai" China Aid
Additional Name(s): Aierken Tuerxun, ئەركىن تۇرسۇن
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Uyghur
Religion or Belief: Unspecified
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 19 Years, 10 Months' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: March//2018
Date of Sentencing: May/5/2018
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Ethnoreligious Identity
Nature of Charges: Harboring a Fugitive Incitement to Commit Crime & Violence
Erkin Tursun is imprisoned in relation to his ethnoreligious identity.
In March 2018, authorities in Ghulja County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) detained Tursun, a Uyghur television journalist and producer at state broadcaster Ili Television, reportedly in relation to a program he produced about the financial struggles of three Uyghur students.
On May 5, 2018, Tursun was sentenced to 19 years and ten months in prison "for harboring criminal[s] and inciting national enmity or discrimination."
Photo attributed to Xinjiang Victims Database
"Erkin Tursun" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
"Erkin Tursun" Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
"Erkin Tursun" Xinjiang Victims Database
USCIRF Tweet May 3, 2022
"Erkin Tursun" Amnesty International
"Under pressure over Xinjiang, China takes aim at overseas Uighurs, academics" Reuters
"Xinjiang Authorities Jail Prominent Uyghur Television Host" Radio Free Asia (RFA)