Ms. Zhu Wenlan, a Falun Gong practitioner from Cao County, Heze City, Shandong, persecuted to death
(Rights Defense Network Information Center report)On June 17, 2026, this website learned that Zhu Wenlan, a Falun Gong practitioner in her sixties from Cao County, Heze City, Shandong Province, was subjected to a home raid, arrest and detention by the Chengguan Town Police Station in Cao County in early October 2025. Zhu Wenlan was later abducted to the Heze Detention Center.
In the detention center, Zhu Wenlan suffered severe mental and physical torment, leaving her family extremely worried. The public security, procuratorate and courts in Cao County sentenced her to three years in prison under a so-called “procedure.” During her detention in the detention center, her health rapidly deteriorated, and she eventually became unable to walk. Only after her family’s strong demands did the Cao County police send her to a hospital. But Zhu Wenlan’s condition had already worsened, and she died amid injustice on April 25, 2026.
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