Falun Gong Practitioner Dies in Prison at 42, Body Cremated Hours Later

Mr. Wang Wenzhong’s sister received a call from Ji’nan Prison at 11 a.m. on January 12, 2018, saying that her brother had just died. She rushed to the prison to view her brother’s remains, already in the prison’s mortuary.

Once heavily built, Mr. Wang had been reduced to just skin and bones. His sister questioned whether he had been starved to death, but the prison guards claimed he had a brain haemorrhage. There was no autopsy done or medical records provided.

Under pressure from the prison authorities, Mr. Wang’s sister agreed to have his body immediately cremated. She took his ashes back to their hometown in Yi’nan County that night.

Mr. Wang, born on September 2, 1975, was from Yishui County, Shandong Province. He moved to Weifang City in 2010 and was arrested the following year on November 6.

He was targeted because he refused to renounce Falun Gong, a mind-body practice being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

Mr. Wang was held at an unknown place before being transferred to Weifang City Detention Centre on January 11, 2012. He was sentenced to 7.5 years in Ji’nan Prison on October 22, 2012.

The prison guards subjected Mr. Wang to various forms of abuse and torture. He had a brain haemorrhage and underwent surgery several times. His sister noted he always had bandages on his head when she visited him.

Mr. Wang received a letter from his family on March 8, 2017, but a guard ripped it into pieces, which caused Mr. Wang tremendous mental stress. He had another brain haemorrhage four days later and was rushed to the prison hospital.

It remains to be investigated whether Mr. Wang’s death was a result of his latest brain haemorrhage.