Li Qiaochu: On the 450th day since Xu Zhiyong and I applied to marry, demanding that Lunan Prison issue a notice informing us of the rejection of our marriage application

After this year's Spring Festival, I began running back and forth to fight for the right to marry. On March 3, Lunan Prison said it had reported the matter the previous year and that it was not up to them to decide. In May, the Shandong Provincial Prison Administration Bureau told me to contact the prison and civil affairs departments; they were only responsible for guidance and supervision. In July, the Shandong provincial government rejected my application for administrative reconsideration, on the grounds that the marriage application fell within the prison's implementation of criminal punishment. On August 24, the civil affairs department said that, under the marriage registration regulations, both parties must be present, and that I had to go to the prison myself to coordinate.

On August 25, after going around in a circle, I returned to Lunan Prison. Staff members told me on the spot: For incarcerated persons, there is one and only one system for leaving prison—the system of leaving prison to visit family—and Xu Zhiyong clearly does not meet the requirements. As for what requirements he did not meet, an employee surnamed Li from Prison Ward 15 told me to go back and read the Prison Law myself. Doesn't that mean that, in reality, there is no way for us to complete our marriage registration?

On September 6, I submitted a request for Lunan Prison to issue a letter formally rejecting the marriage application. I also submitted a request for the disclosure of government information, seeking the names, positions and police identification numbers of the four staff members present that day, as well as information on the preservation of the on-site law-enforcement records, in order to safeguard my basic rights in subsequent legal proceedings.

On the same day, I mailed a request for supervision to the Shandong Provincial Prison Administration Bureau. All of the above documents have been signed for.

Nothing is implemented, yet nothing is rejected; there is no substantive response at all, and they are even trying every possible way to leave no trace... We still do not know how much longer we will have to fight for this most basic civil right.

Fortunately, after each setback, I get back on my feet much faster than before. Thank you all for your attention!