(Minghui.org) A Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, man has been denied family visits in prison since June 2024 because he refused to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Wang Ying was arrested on March 29, 2023, with two other practitioners, Mr. Zhang Ruitong and Ms. Meng Lili.
Mr. Wang’s latest arrest came one month before his mother, in her 80s, was scheduled for a major surgery. He was thus unable to visit her. His latest ordeal was preceded by a two-year prison term. He was released in March 2020.
After months of detention, Ms. Meng’s vision became blurred and she also experienced tightness in her chest. Mr. Zhang, who was previously jailed twice for a total of 12 years on top of an unknown term of forced labor, lost the ability to walk and had to use a wheelchair. His hair also turned gray.
The Donghe District Court held four joint hearings of the practitioners’ cases on November 17, 27 and 28, and December 14, 2023, before convicting them on December 21, 2023. Mr. Wang was sentenced to four years and two months and fined 20,000 yuan, Mr. Zhang was given four years and fined 18,000 yuan, and Ms. Meng received three years and three months and was fined 10,000 yuan.
The practitioners appealed to the Baotou City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold their original verdicts on March 25, 2024. In late April, Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhang were transferred from the Donghe District Detention Center to the sixth ward of the Hohhot Second Prison and Ms. Meng was transferred from the Guchengwan Detention Center to the Hohhot First Women’s Prison.
Mr. Wang’s family visited him on May 24, 2024. He told them the authorities didn’t give him any prior notice before transferring him to the prison and he didn’t have enough time to pack his belongings. When the family returned on the visitation days in June and July, however, they were not allowed to see him. The guards claimed that, because Mr. Wang refused to renounce Falun Gong it was their policy to deny his family visits. The family filed several complaints against the prison, but to no avail.
Mr. Wang’s family also learned that the prison recently held a brainwashing session for eight Falun Gong practitioners. They worried that Mr. Wang might have been one of them and might be enduring physical and mental torture in the prison. They filed another complaint with the Inner Mongolia Prison Administration Bureau, but have not received a response.
It’s not clear whether Mr. Zhang and Ms. Meng have been allowed to meet with their families.
Related Reports:
Three Inner Mongolia Residents Lose Appeal Against Wrongful Convictions for Their Faith
Baotou City, Inner Mongolia: Three Locals Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong
Twice Jailed Man Faces Indictment Again for His Faith
Inner Mongolia Practitioners Mr. Wang Ying and Ms. Wang Hongling Sentenced to Prison
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