A retired colonel who was denied visitation for one-and-a-half years passed away suddenly while serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison term for upholding his belief in Falun Gong. The traditional mind-body discipline has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Gong Piqi’s family was informed on April 12 that he had died shortly after being taken to a hospital for resuscitation, according to a report on Minghui.org. Being denied visitation for 18 months, the grief-stricken family knew very little about Gong’s recent experiences or his health condition. Doctors and prison authorities also rejected the family’s strong demand to see Gong’s body. Only Gong’s older brother and nephew were allowed to say goodbye on the condition that they didn’t take any photos or make any recordings. Gong, who lived in Qingdao city, Shandong Province, was arrested with his wife on Oct. 16, 2017. The police broke into their home and took $20,000 in cash …