Name: Zhang Jinhua (张锦华)
Gender: Female
Age: 60s
Address: Building No. 15, Jiangjing Garden, Pingding County, Yangquan City
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 5, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Yangquan City Detention Center (阳泉市看守所 )
City: Yangquan
Province: Shanxi
Persecution Suffered: Home ransacked, detention.
(Minghui.org) Many people gathered outside the Pingding Court in Yangquan City, Shanxi Province, on July 4, 2012. They wished to observe an honest lawyer's defense of Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Jinhua in court.
Many police vehicles and plainclothes police officers were stationed outside the courtroom. The police set up three levels of checkpoints at the entrance. Ms. Zhang's family members had to present their ID cards and go through a full-body security screening and body searches before they could enter. However, a court-designated “audience” had already occupied most of the public gallery seats in the courtroom, leaving only a few seats for Ms. Zhang's family.
When a passerby wanted to enter the courtroom, the police refused to let him in. After he showed his ID card, the police still denied him entry. The man asked the police, “Isn't this a public hearing? Why are you refusing to allow me to enter? Why are you so afraid of Falun Gong?” The police had nothing to say in reply.
During the trial, the defense lawyer questioned the prosecutor's so-called evidence. He pointed out that evidence without the signature of the party concerned is not legal; no law stipulates that Falun Gong is a cult; Article 300 in the Criminal Law cannot be used to legally determine if Falun Gong practitioners are guilty of a crime. Faced with the lawyer's powerful burden of proof, the prosecutor and the judge had no reply. Some police officers who had been arranged by the court to observe the proceedings gave the thumbs-up gesture, saying, “Well done. He is indeed a worthy lawyer from Beijing.”
Ms. Zhang Jinhua, in her sixties, was arrested at home on March 5, 2012. Participating in the arrest were more than ten officers and agents from the Pingding County 610 Office and the county's Domestic Security Division. They ransacked Ms. Zhang's home and took a computer, Falun Gong books, more than 10,000 yuan in cash, and other personal belongings.
Ms. Zhang's family hired a lawyer from Beijing to defend her. July 3 was the date when the lawyer should have met with Ms. Zhang before the hearing. The detention center officers at first would not allow the lawyer to enter with his bag containing the case files. When the lawyer demanded adamantly, he was eventually allowed to enter.
