(Clearwisdom.net) In July 2006, Jilin Prison officials began denying Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Zhang Hongwei's family's visitation rights for three months.

Mr. Zhang Hongwei refused to give up practicing Falun Dafa and was savagely tortured at the Jilin Prison. He was held in solitary confinement for two years and five months, during which the guards immobilized him in a bed and further tortured him with a method called the Big Hang Up. [1] They brutally beat him, and his current condition is critical. He was diagnosed with type III tuberculosis of the lungs, pleurisy and heart disease. The Prison Administration Bureau also rejected Zhang Hongwei's application for medical parole, because Zhang Hongwei's lungs are not perforated. They then denied Zhang Hongwei's family's right to visit him. Wang, an officer in the Education Section, said Zhang Hongwei could no longer eat. Perhaps this is the reason the prison authorities do not allow family visits.

Dafa practitioner Zhang Hongwei

Zhang Hongwei's mother-in-law took Zhang Hongwei's child to Jilin Prison on July 14 to see him. The authorities told them that they were not allowed to visit for three months. When asked who made the decision, the officials said the prison did. Zhang Hongwei's family called the Education Section, Prison Politics Section and the head of the prison, but no one answered the phone. The Education Section and the division where Zhang Hongwei is held both said that the section head, the guards and the division head were not available. Other family members went to the prison and waited outside the office building. They saw the guards from the division where Zhang Hongwei was held, and they also saw Wang Yuanchun from the Education Section. Wang Yuanchun said the reception office didn't allow visits because the family had said something that they were not supposed to say on their previous visit to the prison. The "inappropriate" thing the family uttered that led to the barring of visitations turned out to be the word "cultivation."

Liu Wei, deputy head of Jilin Prison

Wang Yanling, head of the reception office at Jilin Prison

The family went back to the prison on July 17, but was again turned away. The family talked to Liu Wei, deputy head of the prison, and asked to see Zhang Hongwei's x-rays. Liu Wei said, "The family doesn't have the right to see those." The family confronted Liu Wei about locking Zhang Hongwei in solitary confinement for two years. Liu Wei denied it and said, "Don't believe rumors."

The family went back to the prison on July 19 and asked Liu Wei to repeal the visitation ban. The family asked, "Why can't we meet with Zhang Hongwei?" Liu Wei said, "You know very well what you said." The family said, "We only mentioned the word 'cultivation.' It's a word that exists in Buddhism and Taoism, why can't Falun Gong practitioners say it?" Liu Wei said, "A prison has its rules. I'm just following the laws of this country." The family said, "Show us the laws you are referring to." Liu Wei said, "You have no right [to see those laws]." The family said, "If you didn't detain him in solitary confinement for two years while you physically and verbally abused him, would he currently be in such a critical physical condition? The public regulation for guards states that you are not allowed to physically or verbally hurt detainees, abuse them, or subject them to corporal punishment." Liu Wei said, "We didn't beat him." The family said, "If you say you didn't beat him, let's bring Zhang Hongwei out right now and ask him." Liu Wei said, "You have no right to do so."

Wang Dehui, head of the Criminal Punishment Division at the Jilin Province Prison Administration Bureau

Zhang Hongwei's application for medical parole was delivered to the prison administration bureau after May 1, 2006. Around May 20, 2006, Zhang Hongwei's family went to Wang Dehui, head of Criminal Punishment Division at the Jilin Province Prison Administration Bureau. They went to talk to him for four days, but he refused to approve it. On the fifth day, the family petitioned Bai Xuejie at the Criminal Punishment Division, who said, "We may not approve medical parole. There are documents that set requirements for us. We can only approve it if his lungs are perforated or if he coughs blood." The family asked, "Wouldn't he be near death if he was in that condition? Who will take the responsibility if something happens to him?" Bai Xuejie said, "No one!"

The family asked Wang Dehui the next day whether he has approved the application. He replied, "I'm telling you that I didn't approve it! Go ahead and sue me!" Zhang Hongwei's wife said, "My father passed away because the Judicial Bureau didn't approve his application for medial parole." Wang Dehui said, "That has nothing to do with me." The family said, "We'll hold you responsible if anything happens!"

Song Wenhua, Zhang Hongwei's father-in-law, in critical condition

Song Wenhua died from illness because the prison administration bureau didn't approve his application for medical parole

Zhang Hongwei is in grave condition and can die at any time, and yet the Prison Administration Bureau and Jilin Prison still refuse to release him. They used all kinds of excuses to deceive his family. Liu Wei, deputy head of the prison, refused to let the family look at Zhang Hongwei's chest x-rays and said, "You have no right." Zhang Hongwei's family is his legal representative, and they have the right to know Zhang Hongwei's situation when his life and personal freedom are threatened. Liu Wei is responsible for Zhang Hongwei's illness and will be held accountable for the injuries and subsequent consequences the prison has caused Zhang Hongwei.

We call upon the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) and all kind-hearted people to pay attention to the dangerous situation of practitioner Zhang Hongwei and help secure his release.

Almost all Dafa practitioners who were released on medical parole from Jilin Prison have passed away. Dafa practitioners inside and outside China can cooperate with each other and together sue Liu Wei, deputy head of Jilin Prison. We will investigate the criminal conduct of all institutions, organizations, and individuals involved in the persecution of Falun Gong.

The following is a list of officials responsible for this incident of persecution and their phone numbers:

Liu Wei: deputy head of the prison

Tan Fuhua: former head of Prison Politics Section
Li Yonsheng: current head of Prison Politics Section

Jilin Prison
Physical address: No 10 Junmin Road, Jilin City, Zip code: 132012
Mailing address: Box 315, Jilin City
Main switchboard: 86-432-4881551, Fax: 86-432-4881559
Front office: 86-432-4881551 ext. 3300
Liu Wei: deputy head of prison and head of Prison Politics Section, 86-432-2409418
Prison Station Group: 86-432-4881551 ext. 3077
Head of prison: 86-432-4885488
Li Qiang: head of prison, 86-432-4881551 ext. 3001; 86-13843218517(Cell)
Liu Changjiang: deputy head of prison, 86-432-4881551 ext. 3003; 86-13904429905 (Cell)
Wang Yufan: deputy head of prison, 86-432-4881551 ext. 3006; 86-432-4883619, 86-13804411837 (Cell)
Zhao Xinchao: deputy head of prison, 86-432-4881551 ext. 3008; 86-432-4882313

Division 2: 86-432-4881551 ext. 3062

List of persecutors who personally persecuted Falun Gong practitioners
Li Yongsheng: official at the Education Section
Li Zhuang: head of the Education Section
Liu Changjiang: responsible for politics
Li Qiang: another head of the prison
Liu Wei: deputy head of the prison
Guo Dongbiao: official at Division 5
Wang Shijie: head of the Criminal Law Execution Section
Wang Yanqing: official at the Education Section
Tan Fuhua: head of the Prison Politics Section
Yang Xiaotian: head of the Surveillance Division
Wang Zhiqing: head of Division 11
Wei Xianghui: deputy head of Division 10
Hu Zhongxue: official at Division 10
Yue Gang: head of Division 9
Cui Yunbiao: head of Division 9
Zhao Yingbiao: guard at Division 8
Yue Yanming: former head of Division 2
Zhang Jian: guard at Division 2
Li Yujiao: head of Division 2
Liu Xianzhang: deputy head of the Prison Politics Section
Wu Dongfeng: head of Division 11
Lin Zhibin: head of Division 5
Tang Guozhong: official at Division 11
Cui Jun: group head at Division 7
Zhang Baozhi: official
Zhang Jianhua: guard at Division 5
Meng Haibo: guard at Division 2

[1] Big Hang Up: During this torture, Dafa practitioners' hands are handcuffed and then pulled from behind the back and hung up on a hook high above the ground. The feet are made to hang just above the floor. Practitioners that are hung up frequently have reported passing out from the pain.