(Minghui.org) Ms. Yu Yingzhu has been denied family visits since she was admitted to the Hunan Province Women’s Prison on October 26, 2023, to serve a three-year sentence for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Her family has also been barred from sending money and clothes to her. She did not even have toilet paper [which inmates must purchase using their own money] to use and had to rely on others to share theirs with her. Her family learned from insiders that she was in serious condition due to the abuse. Around March 2024, she went on a hunger strike for more than ten days. Someone noted that her feet were swollen.
This is not the first time that Ms. Yu, of Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, has been targeted for her faith. She previously served three forced labor terms totaling nearly eight years for practicing Falun Gong. For information on Ms. Yu’s past persecution, see the second related report listed at the end of this article.
Family Repeatedly Denied Visits with and Withheld Information About Their Loved One
Ms. Yu was arrested on March 29, 2023, and sentenced to three years months later on September 8. After her appeal was rejected, she was admitted to the Hunan Province Women’s Prison on October 26, 2023.
Ms. Yu has been held at the strict management team in the high-security division since her prison admission. Her family was turned away numerous times when they tried to visit her there. They were also not allowed to send in money or clothes. It wasn’t until the end of 2023 that they learned that she had been abused to the point of being in serious condition.
Ms. Yu’s sister Mei (alias) went to the prison on the afternoon of December 11, 2023, but was blocked outside. She then called two prison numbers (+86-731-82323290, +86-731-82323210), and the guards answering the phone all claimed that her sister was totally fine. They also said that the very fact that the prison had not called her family was proof that there was nothing wrong with Ms. Yu.
As soon as Mei said she learned that her sister was in serious condition, the guards blurted out, “How did you know? From whom did you hear about that? Who told you that?”
Ms. Yu went on a hunger strike for more than ten days around March 2024. Someone noted that her feet were swollen.
At around 10 a.m. on April 25, 2024, the prison called Mei from the number +86-16763687584. She missed it but called back as soon as she saw it. No one picked up the phone. She then called the prison affairs and was told to wait for them to call back. She dialed the number of the strict management team and was told the same thing. Yet no one called her back. She called them numerous times afterward and was always told to wait for them to call her back.
Mei suspected something must have happened to her sister after the hunger strike or the prison would not have called her. But she couldn’t understand why they did not directly tell her what was going on over the phone and kept asking her to wait for their callback. She called the prison affairs again on April 27 and 28 and requested her sister’s immediate release. The guards claimed her sister was fine.
The Xiangtianqiao Police Station called Ms. Yu’s brother on July 30, 2024, and said the newly appointed police chief would accompany him to the prison following week to visit his sister and deposit money to her commissary account. The next day, a deputy police chief came to deliver two letters that Ms. Yu wrote to her family in which she asked them to send money to her. Her brother noted the letters were written in May and June 2024, respectively. When he asked why they were not delivered earlier, the deputy chief said he had no idea as he had just received the letters from their supervising agency. He asked Ms. Yu’s brother to hold off wiring money to her and said that the police station would check with the prison to see when their family would be allowed to visit her.
Related Reports:
49-Year-Old Hunan Woman Admitted to Prison After Losing Appeal Against 3-Year Sentence
Once Incarcerated for Nearly Eight Years, 49-Year-Old Woman Gets Three Years for Her Faith
Hunan Woman on Hunger Strike for a Month and Counting Following Latest Arbitrary Arrest
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