In August 2021, Li Chenhui and her husband Pastor Chang Yuchun were sentenced to seven years in prison for printing Christian books in their registered and established printing business, a large risk in order to meet the needs of many churches.
According to Chang Shengyi, he and his brother visited both their parents earlier this month and found that neither of his parents had been receiving appropriate medical assistance during their four years of imprisonment.
The arrests and imprisonment came after 13 months of investigation, including the closure of their printing business, seizure of 210,000 religious books, “Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location”, criminal detention on suspicion of “illegal business operations” and finally their arrests in October 2020.
Imprisoned at Xi’an Women’s Prison, Li Chenhui has been experiencing frequent dizziness since November 2023, having fainted multiple times while working in the kitchen, and experiencing headaches when lying down to sleep if her position is not correct. After reporting her condition to the prison, the guards said they would arrange a CT scan for her, but after one year and five months, she still hasn’t had the examination. Her son, Chang Shengyi raised this issue during his visit on 17 March with the section chief of the prison ward, who said they would verify the situation quickly and determine the next steps.
Visiting their father Chang Yuchun in Fuping Prison, his sons learned that Chang Yuchun had been tortured during “Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location” and had long suffered beatings from prison bullies and extortion of money by criminal forces in prison. Chang Shengyi immediately filed a complaint with the prison. Several days later, the prison invited them back to further their investigation, stating that they would immediately verify and handle the matter and would immediately transfer Pastor Chang Yuchun to a safe place. After the transfer, they would have Pastor Chang Yuchun call Chang Shengyi to report his situation.
Early on 11 March, Chang Shengyi received both a phone call and a text message from the prison, informing him that his father had been transferred to a new prison ward and that they would arrange for them to talk in the morning. The following day Chang Yuchun phoned his sons and personally told them that he was fine and had been transferred to Ward 13, where he was now safe, and that the people who had beaten him had been detained and were under investigation.
On 18 March, Chang Shengyi visited his father again and, through a small window, shook hands with his father for the first time in more than four years.
Chang Shengyi said that after seeing his parents separately these two days, both his father and mother expressed particular gratitude for everyone’s concern and prayers for them. Sometimes they are notified of receiving letters or postcards, though unfortunately, they cannot see much of the content because the content is related to the Christian faith. They asked Chang Shengyi to send their regards to everyone.
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