(Minghui.org) A 60-year-old resident of Houma City, Shanxi Province, has been denied family visits since being admitted to prison on December 12, 2023 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Yuan Jinming was arrested on May 6, 2023 and sentenced to 3.5 years and a 5,000-yuan fine months later, on November 20. He was transferred to the Jinzhong Prison (also known as the Shanxi Province First Prison) on December 12, 2023.
The prison authorities have never provided any updates on Mr. Yuan except mailing a notice to his family confirming his prison admission and sharing a phone number. His loved ones managed to find out that he had been assigned to the intensive training team in Division Four, which has the 26th of each month as its monthly family visitation date.
Mr. Yuan’s family travelled more than 160 miles from Houma City to Jinzhong City on March 26, 2024, but were denied visiting him and also barred from depositing money into his commissary account. The prison authorities claimed that no Falun Gong practitioner was allowed family visits while they were in the intensive training team.
Mr. Yuan’s family called the prison a few days ago and asked when the intensive training period would end. The guard answering the phone did not directly address the question but said that as long as Mr. Yuan still refused to write statements renouncing Falun Gong, he would not be allowed to write, call, or see his family, or have money wired to his commissary account.
Unable to have any communication with him, Mr. Yuan’s loved ones are extremely worried about his wellbeing and safety. The Jinzhong Prison is notorious for torturing Falun Gong practitioners, which has resulted in multiple deaths over the years. Mr. Yuan previously served two jail terms totaling eight years in the same prison and was brutally tortured.
Mr. Yuan was first arrested on September 30, 2002, and later sentenced to three years in the Jinzhong Prison. He was brutally beaten for not renouncing his faith, and subjected to violent brainwashing methods, and being forced to stand for so long that his legs swelled up to the point that he couldn’t walk.
Mr. Yuan was arrested again on July 26, 2007, and sentenced to a five year prison term. While serving time at Jinzhong Prison, he was held in solitary confinement, doused with cold water, slapped in the face, punched and beaten, starved, and forced to sleep on the floor in only a thin layer of clothing. His legs were disabled when he was released on July 25, 2012.
Related Reports:
59-Year-Old Shanxi Man Given Third Prison Term for Practicing Falun Gong
Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured in Jinzhong Prison, at Least Nine Tortured to Death
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