71-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Yuzhen from Dashiqiao City, Liaoning, sentenced to nine years, falls critically ill after being detained and persecuted, and is only then granted “medical parole”

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On November 10, 2026, this outlet learned that Zhang Yuzhen, a 71-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Dashiqiao City, Liaoning, who was sentenced to nine years, became critically ill after being detained and persecuted and was only then granted “medical parole”.

Zhang Yuzhen and his wife, Gong Suyan, were arrested and detained in November 2025. In July 2026, they were sentenced to nine years and eight years and six months, respectively. On the evening of October 29, the family suddenly received a notice saying that Zhang Yuzhen was being resuscitated at Luhe Hospital in Dashiqiao City, that the hospital had issued a critical condition notice, and that family members were required to come sign it. According to reports, when Zhang Yuzhen was transferred from the Dashiqiao City Detention Center to Luhe Hospital, he was already unconscious. After emergency treatment at the hospital, his body temperature gradually rose to 35 degrees Celsius, after which he was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). On October 31, he was transferred again to the ICU at Yingkou Central Hospital. After an expert consultation, he was diagnosed with severe cerebral thrombosis and pneumonia accompanied by a persistent high fever. Zhang Yuzhen is currently still receiving emergency treatment in the ICU and is relying on a ventilator to stay alive, with various tubes inserted into his body. However, the family has been continually barred from entering the ward to visit him at close range. On November 2, the detention center completed the so-called “medical parole” procedures for Zhang Yuzhen and said that he would henceforth be under “government management” and no longer the detention center’s responsibility. Zhang Yuzhen is currently still receiving treatment in the ICU at Yingkou Central Hospital and has not yet been out of danger.

Zhang Yuzhen biography: A Falun Gong practitioner from Dashiqiao City, Yingkou, Liaoning Province; male; born in 1955; 71 years old in 2026; lives in Dongzhi Village, Yong’an Town, Dashiqiao City.

The Dashiqiao City Public Security Bureau monitored and tracked local Falun Gong practitioners by cellphone for six months, then carried out a coordinated arrest operation on November 25, 2025. The Criminal Investigation Brigade alone dispatched more than 20 police officers.

On November 25, 2025, Zhang Yuzhen, his wife Gong Suyan (72), and their son Zhang Bo, who does not practice Falun Gong, were seized by police who forced their way into their home and ransacked it. The male practitioners who were abducted were detained at the Dashiqiao City Detention Center, while the female practitioners were detained at the Yingkou City Detention Center. They were all subsequently placed under criminal detention, then formally arrested and indicted. Zhang Yuzhen’s condition deteriorated rapidly during his detention; he developed multiple lacunar infarcts and became physically weak. In the end, police pushed him into court in a wheelchair. His family and lawyer repeatedly made the reasonable request that he be “allowed to go home for treatment,” but the presiding judge and prosecutor completely ignored it. On July 16 and 17, 2026, the Zhanqian District Court held hearings in the case on two consecutive days, and on August 11 issued Criminal Judgment No. (2026) Liao 0802 Xing Chu 72. Zhang Yuzhen was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined RMB 50,000; his sentence runs through November 24, 2034.