(Minghui.org) A Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, resident serving time for practicing Falun Gong is being denied family visits for his refusal to give up his faith.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Yang Bo and his wife Ms. Xiao Ying were arrested on October 7, 2017, for refusing to renounce Falun Gong. They were tried by Nanshan District Court on August 9, 2018, and sentenced to eight and two years in prison, respectively, in August 2019.
Mr. Yang appealed to Shenzhen City Intermediate Court, which upheld his sentence in November 2019 without a hearing.
The authorities only allowed his mother to visit him at Nanshan District Detention Center after he was sentenced.
Mr. Yang’s mother returned to the detention center in mid-January 2020 prior to the Chinese New Year but was told that he has been transferred to Beijiang Prison on December 20, 2019.
The prison now forbids Mr. Yang’s family from visiting or calling him, with the excuse that he is in a strict management period and won’t be allowed family visits if he doesn’t renounce Falun Gong.
Meanwhile, Ms. Xiao was released in October 2019 after serving her term. She was fired from her workplace because of the persecution and now faces financial struggles while raising her teenage daughter.
Mr. Yang still hopes to hire a lawyer to file a motion to reconsider his case, but his family can no longer afford the legal fees.
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