(Minghui.org) A man serving 10 years for his faith has been on a hunger strike for over a month and is extremely weak, yet authorities refuse to grant him medical parole, claiming he is not yet in critical condition.

Mr. Liu Fubin and his wife, Ms. Li Shuchun, were arrested at home in 2009 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that is persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. In May 2010, Ms. Li was given two years of forced labor, and her husband received a 10-year prison term. Their then-16-year-old daughter struggled to support herself and focus on her school work.

Mr. Liu has been subjected to various forms of abuse since he was admitted to Tailai Prison. He was most recently placed in solitary confinement for 15 days, and he protested by going on a hunger strike.

When Ms. Li visited him at the prison, she found that her husband had lost a significant amount of weight and was almost unrecognizable. She immediately filed a request for his medical parole, but was told his condition was not yet severe enough.

Ms. Li pleaded with them, saying, “Don’t you know that he could die any time without eating anything?”

Officer Xiong replied that they must follow the rules, which state that an imprisoned Falun Gong practitioner may be granted medical parole only under two circumstances: one is that he is on the verge of death and the other is that he is diagnosed with a serious disease.