(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Pan Deng from Wuhan City was illegally sentenced to prison on December 11, 2013, for stopping the police from taking his mother to a brainwashing center. He was tried in the Hanyang District Court in Wuhan City. His family only then realized that the police had misled them.
Mr. Pan Foils an Attempt to Apprehend His Mother
Mr. Pan went to the Wuhan City No. 1 Detention Center to pick up his mother, Ms. Huang Haiying, on May 8, 2013, her release date. When he saw her being forced into a car outside the center, he went over and asked the occupants, none of whom were in uniform, to identify themselves.
The occupants told him that they were taking his mother to a brainwashing center. He pointed out that, according to existing Chinese law, Ms. Huang was a free person as of May 8, 2013, since her detention had ended, and that he was there to pick her up. He then took her home.
Mr. Pan Arrested
Two days later Mr. Pan was attacked just after he left home by plainclothes officers who tried to arrest him. Mr. Pan resisted and fought back. An onlooker called and reported the fight to the police. This all took place in the Yuehu Community in the Hanyang District.
Mr. Pan and the three officers were taken to the Yuehuqiao Police Station in Hanyang District. The officers--Chen Zhilong, Jiang Xiaobing, and Jiang Ran from the Qiaokou District Domestic Security Division--were released immediately. However, Mr. Pan, the victim, was held in police custody for 15 days and then transferred to the Taojialing Detention Center where he is still being held.
Mr. Pan Sued by the Police
The police officers filed a lawsuit against Mr. Pan for “assaulting an officer.” Officer Chen Zhilong claimed to have been injured by Mr. Pan. Community Residential Committee Party secretary Cao Jinbao and official Li Shuangli, both of whom participated in the attempt to apprehend Ms. Pan's mother, claimed to have witnessed the incident.
Director Yin and deputy director Leng of the Yuehuqiao Police Station and officers from the Hanyang Police Department submitted the case documents to the Hanyang District Procuratorate.
Insufficient Evidence
Mr. Pan's family hired a lawyer from Beijing to defend him. After going back and forth between Yuehuqiao Police Station and the Hanyang District Procuratorate, the lawyer eventually was allowed to meet with Mr. Pan at the Taojialing Detention Center.
Mr. Pan advised the attorney that, on May 8, 2013, police officers Chen Zhilong, Xu Jinping, Cai Xiaobing, and Jiang Ran from the Qiaokou District, in plainclothes and a regular van with an out-of-province license plate, had attempted to take his mother to a brainwashing center. Since the officers never showed any legal documentation or identification, Mr. Pan had no clue that they were police and took her home.
On May 10, police officers Chen Zhilong, Cai Xiaobing, and Jiang Ran, again in plainclothes, went beyond their jurisdiction and made the arrest in the Hanyang District, where Mr. Pan lives. Although Mr. Pan resisted and fought back during the arrest, the accusation of assaulting an officer was not valid since the officers were not on duty.
The Hanyang Procuratorate officials rejected the case due to insufficient evidence.
Claiming Injury and Demanding Compensation
Police officer Chen Zhilong and others from the Qiaokou Domestic Security Division went to Mr. Pan's wife's employer and asked where Ms. Huang was. They claimed that Mr. Pan had injured them and asked for compensation. The family gave the officials gifts and treated them to meals.
Mr. Pan's family was repeatedly harassed and threatened by director Yin and deputy director Leng of the Yueqiaohu Police Station and officials from the Hanyang District Procuratorate and Hanyang District Court.
The family was advised to fire the lawyer from Beijing and hire someone from the province. They told the family to pressure Mr. Pan into pleading guilty. They claimed that was the only way he would be released. They told a story of a person who had been detained for over six years and was still being held because he refused to cooperate. That prompted Mr. Pan's father and wife to comply with their suggestion.
Mr. Pan was tried on December 11, 2013, in the Hanyang District Court and sentenced to prison.
