(Minghui.org) A Chengde City, Hebei Province, resident has been denied family visits since she was admitted to Hebei Province Women’s Prison on April 18, 2023, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Han Liping, 73, was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer shortly after her prison transfer, yet the prison authorities have refused to grant her medical parole.
Ms. Han was arrested at home on July 22, 2022, and sentenced to five years with a 5,000-yuan fine on January 19, 2023. Her appeal was rejected on April 18 and she was transferred to Division 14 of Hebei Province Women’s Prison later that day.
Ms. Han had already exhibited some symptoms while in the Chengde City Detention Center. She had coughing fits and elevated blood pressure. She even lost consciousness one night and the guards took her to a hospital the next morning. She was hospitalized for one week before being taken back to the detention center.
The prison authorities were well aware of Ms. Han’s health condition, but they still admitted her on April 18.
On May 11, a prison guard called Ms. Han’s family, saying that she had been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. Her loved ones called relevant agencies seeking her medical parole. They were told that she met the parole requirements, but the prison refused to release her and also denied their requests to visit her.
Ms. Han was moved to Division 17 of the prison on May 21. The guards took her to a hospital that day for a medical evaluation and called her family afterward saying that her diagnosis had been downgraded to lung inflammation. They claimed that the hospital recommended anti-inflammatory treatment for two weeks and another CT scan after that. The previous CT scan done while she was still in Division 14 indicated she had a hilar mass (tumor at the lung roots). A pathological examination and puncture into the lung would be performed if the new CT scan showed no improvement after the anti-inflammatory treatment.
On June 25, the prison called Ms. Han’s family again to say that a new CT scan indicated that she still had shadows in her lungs after the anti-inflammatory treatment. They needed her family to come to the prison the next day to sign a consent form to perform a minimally invasive biopsy (a puncture into the lung followed by a pathological examination) to confirm whether she was “cancerous.”
That night, however, Ms. Han’s family was notified that they could no longer come to the prison the next day as the prison doctor in charge of her case had something come up and would not be able to meet with them to do the consent form and discuss her medical conditions.
The prison called the next morning (on June 26) and said that they did another CT scan the night before and that the shadows were still there. They reiterated the need for an invasive biopsy. Ms. Han’s loved ones requested to see her as soon as possible but were denied on the grounds that she had not renounced Falun Gong. Strangely, the prison didn’t ask for the family’s consent for the biopsy this time.
Ms. Han’s family has only been allowed to see her once since her arrest, when she was still held in the detention center. They don’t know if the prison had gone ahead and done the biopsy without their consent. Her daughter has been particularly devastated by her continued imprisonment despite her cancer diagnosis.
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