(Minghui.org) Ms. Bai Hanying, a Falun Gong practitioner in her fifties, was secretly tried in Hanzhong Court in Shaanxi Province in May 2013. Her family hired an attorney, who went to the courthouse several times, but was never allowed to see the case files. One excuse he was given was that court personnel had never encountered this situation—where a Falun Gong practitioner had hired an attorney—and didn't know how to handle it. On other occasions, they claimed that they could not get the case files because the deputy president in charge of Ms. Bai's case was out of town on business.
Ms. Bai is retired from the Hanzhong Catering Service Company. She gave a Shen Yun DVD to a young man who appeared to be waiting for a bus at the Baliqiao Bus Station at 8:00 a.m. February 27, 2013. He was, in fact, a plainclothes police officer. A police car arrived right away and took Ms. Bai to the Baliqiao Police Station.
A person at the bus station said to the police officer, “If you don't want it, just don't take it. Why call the police?” The undercover officer snarled, “Are you in this with her?”
Officers at the station would not listen when Ms. Bai tried to tell them the truth about Falun Gong. They took her house keys from her and searched her home. With no one at home, they rummaged through chests and cupboards.
The Hanzhong Police Department Economic Development District Branch called Ms. Bai's son on March 13, and asked him to sign the arrest notice. She was charged on suspicion of “Organizing and using superstitious sects, secret societies, and evil religious organizations to sabotage the implementation of law.”
When Ms. Bai's lawyer went to the courthouse on June 21, he was told that Ms. Bai had already been tried, secretly, on May 25. Xiong Wei was the presiding judge. No lawyer or family members were present in the courtroom. This is totally illegal. During the trial, Ms. Bai defended herself. Her argument was so strong that the judge could not sentence her to prison.
Ms. Bai Hanying is now in the Hantai District Detention Center. Almost three months have passed since her trial, yet there has been no sentence or verdict, nor has she been released from detention.
This is not the first time such an irregularity has occurred. Mr. Liu Wei, a practitioner living in Nanzheng County, Hanzhong City, was tried on May 14, 2013. During the proceedings, Judge Zhang Chao interrupted Mr. Liu many times in defending himself. Mr. Liu has neither been sentenced nor released so far. Officials in Hanzhong City appear to be waiting to watching the political climate, and are not ready to make a decision.
