(Minghui.org) A resident of Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province traveled 570 miles to Shenyang, Liaoning Province, only to be denied a visit with his wife, who is serving time for her faith at Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Wen Ying was arrested on June 28, 2016, while visiting her child in Dalian, Liaoning Province. She was targeted because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Ms. Wen was tried on February 22, 2017, and sentenced to 7 years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan on March 31. Her appeal was turned down on August 16, and she was transferred to Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on November 21. She is currently awaiting a response to her motion to reconsider her case.
Ms. Wen’s husband received a phone call on December 5 from a prison guard, who wanted him to persuade his wife to follow the prison rules, admit her guilt, and rescind her motion. He replied that his wife had always been a good wife, mother, and daughter-in-law and that she didn’t commit any crimes by exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief. Hearing this, the guard told him that there would not be a term reduction or family visits for his wife.
Ms. Wen’s husband traveled to the prison on December 11. One of the guards scolded him, “We said not to visit her. Why are you still here? She hasn’t renounced Falun Gong yet.”
The husband said, “I’ve traveled a long distance to come here. I haven’t seen my wife since she was arrested a year and a half ago.”
The guards said no, claiming that allowing Ms. Wen to see her husband would disturb her mental state.
The husband countered that by law all family members are allowed to see their loved ones in prison.
One guard replied, “We have our rules here. Falun Gong [practitioners] are not allowed to see their families if they refuse to give up their belief.”
The husband questioned how a prison’s rules could override the law. The guards left without answering him.
The husband then found a section chief and asked why his wife hadn’t been given a commissary account for him to deposit money. He was told that there was a bank issue that delayed the setup of commissary accounts for some newly admitted inmates. But according to family members of other imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners, the prison had intentionally postponed setting up commissary accounts for practitioners, who ended up having no money to purchase daily necessities.
Ms. Wen’s husband returned to the prison in the afternoon and requested to see the warden. The security guard in the office area claimed that the warden’s office wasn’t there and referred him back to the receptionist in the lobby.
The receptionist put the husband’s name on the visitors’ log and said, “I’ve done my job signing you in, and it has nothing to do with me that you are not allowed to see your wife.”
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