Additional Name(s): 熊成霞

Gender: Female

Current Location: Nantong Women's Prison

Perpetrator: China

Religion or Belief: Falun Gong

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: 7 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: June/5/2018

Date of Sentencing: March/25/2019

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Religious Activity

Nature of Charges: Unknown

Xiong Chengxia

Extra Bio Info:

Xiong Chengxia is imprisoned for her religious activity.

On June 5, 2018, authorities in Haizhou district, Lianyungang municipality, Jiangsu province, detained 11 Lianyungang residents, including Xiong, reportedly for their practice of Falun Gong.

On March 25, 2019, the Haizhou District People’s Court sentenced Xiong to seven years in prison. She reportedly appealed her sentence, but the results are unclear.

Xiong is believed to be serving her sentence in Nantong Women’s Prison in Chongchuan district, Nantong.

Related Cases: Wang Baoyu, Na Renzhi, Ma Baoling, Gao Jianjun

Publicly Available Information:

Additional Name(s): 汪宝玉

Gender: Female

Current Location: Nantong Women's Prison

Perpetrator: China

Religion or Belief: Falun Gong

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: 7 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: June/5/2018

Date of Sentencing: March/25/2019

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Religious Activity

Nature of Charges: Unknown

Wang Baoyu

Extra Bio Info:

Wang Baoyu is imprisoned for her religious activity.

On June 5, 2018, authorities in Haizhou district, Lianyungang municipality, Jiangsu province, detained 11 Lianyungang residents, including Wang, reportedly for their practice of Falun Gong.

On March 25, 2019, the Haizhou District People’s Court sentenced Wang to seven years in prison. She reportedly appealed her sentence, but the results are unclear.

Wang is believed to be serving her sentence in Nantong Women’s Prison in Chongchuan district, Nantong.

Related Cases: Xiong Chengxia, Na Renzhi, Ma Baoling, Gao Jianjun

Publicly Available Information:

Additional Name(s): حميد سوداد

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Algeria

Religion or Belief: Christian – Protestant

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Appeal: Rejected

Sentence: 5 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: January/20/2021

Date of Sentencing: January/21/2021

Date of Release: July/20/2023

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Figures) Expression about Religion Online Activity

Nature of Charges: Blasphemy

Hamid Soudad

Extra Bio Info:

Hamid Soudad was imprisoned for his expression about religion.

On January 20, 2021, Soudad was arrested for insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad reportedly in relation to a cartoon he shared on Facebook in 2018. 

The next day on January 21, 2021, a court in Arzew held an expedited trial and sentenced Soudad to the maximum five years for “offending the Prophet” and “denigrating the creed and precepts of Islam” (Art.144 bis 2 APC). He was reportedly denied legal representation. Soudad was also reportedly questioned about his conversion to Christianity and his membership in the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA). 

On March 22, 2021, the Oran City Appeals Court upheld his sentence.

On July 9, 2021, a group of bipartisan U.S. senators referenced Soudad’s case in a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken about deteriorating religious freedom conditions in Algeria.

In May 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Soudad's detention arbitrary and called for his immediate release. 

On July 5, 2023, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune pardoned several political prisoners, including Soudad.

On July 20, 2023, Soudad was released. 

Publicly Available Information:
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