Critically Ill When Released on Parole While Serving a 9-Year Prison Term, 80-Year-Old Woman Dies After Another 12 Years of Suffering
(Minghui.org)
Name: Cao YuzhenChinese Name: 曹玉珍Gender: FemaleAge: 80City: DalianProvince: LiaoningOccupation: UnknownDate of Death: September 19, 2026Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 5, 2005Most Recent Place of Detention: September 19, 2026
A woman in Dalian City, Liaoning Province was incapacitated and suffering systemic edema when she was released from prison on medical parole in critical condition in the summer of 2014. She lived in unspeakable pain for 12 more years and passed away on September 19, 2026. She was 80 years old.
Ms. Cao Yuzhen was sentenced to nine years for tapping into a local TV station to broadcast video programs exposing the persecution of her faith, Falun Gong. She was predeceased by her daughter-in-law, Ms. Yang Chunling, who was also arrested for tapping into the TV signal. Ms. Yang endured brutal torture while serving a seven-year term. She passed away on April 2, 2014, one year after her release. She was only 40 years old.
Ms. Cao Yuzhen
Ms. Cao took up Falun Gong in 1994. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ordered the persecution in July 1999, she upheld her faith and was repeatedly arrested and detained.
Arrests and Sentencing
On September 5, 2005, Ms. Cao, Ms. Yang, and six other Falun Gong practitioners tapped into the cable TV network of Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province, and played a 90-minute video that recounted the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a documentary about the CCP’s infamous history and its persecution of Falun Gong.
In retaliation, the CCP authorities gave a “kill them all” order, and the local police started a wave of arrests.
Ms. Yang, her husband, Mr. Yang Benliang, Ms. Zhang Wei, and Mr. Lyu Kaili were arrested on the evening of October 13, 2005.
Police broke into Ms. Cao’s home two days later, on October 15, and raided the place, confiscating her and her son’s photos, as well as photos of Falun Gong’s founder. Residential committee staffers continued monitoring Ms. Cao after that. While Ms. Cao managed to escape with her husband’s help, she was eventually arrested in November 2005, when she went to Liaoyang to look for her son and daughter-in-law. She had a heart attack while held in the detention center.
Three other practitioners who participated in the TV interception, Mr. Zhu Benfu, his wife Ms. Sun Jingmei, and Mr. Chen Minghui, were also arrested at different times after the incident.
All eight were later given heavy sentences by the Liaoyang County Court.
- Mr. Yang was sentenced to eleven years.- Mr. Lyu and Mr. Zhang Wei were each given ten years.- Ms. Cao was sentenced to nine years.- Ms. Yang, Mr. Zhu, Ms. Sun, and Mr. Chen were each sentenced to seven years.
Five Lives Perished
Ms. Cao was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison in early 2006, where she was constantly deprived of sleep and forced to sit in a metal chair for extended periods of time.
Ms. Cao developed uremia and systemic edema in the summer of 2014, and became critically ill. The prison released her on medical parole, only a few months before the end of her nine-year term. She had a stroke in April 2015 and became bedridden. Over the next 11 years, she gradually lost the ability to speak, while enduring indescribable physical pain. Despite her condition, the police continued to harass her on major holidays and anniversaries related to Falun Gong.
Ms. Cao passed away on September 19, 2026, after decades of suffering.
In addition to Ms. Cao and Ms. Yang, Mr. Zhu, Ms. Sun, and Mr. Zhang also passed away over the years, as a result of the persecution.
Mr. Lyu became paralyzed and incontinent after he was forced to jump off a building roof because he could no longer tolerate the extreme torture in the prison. He was arrested again on June 20, 2021, and sentenced to eight months on December 16 that year.
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Ms. Cao Yuzhen, 65, Detained in the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City
Innocent Woman in Seventies Incarcerated for 18 Months at Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp