(Minghui.org) Without holding a trial, a court sentenced 76-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Meifa to a prison term. The verdict document even went so far as to reference two court trials that never took place.
Mr. Zhang Meifa from Anren County, Hunan Province received a verdict document at his home on March 6, 2014, informing him that he had been sentenced to a three-year prison term with a three-year suspension.
The court document listed two trials which allegedly took place on December 1 and 20, 2013. But these trials never took place.
On May 15, 2013, officers from the Anren County 610 Office and the Domestic Security Division raided Mr. Zhang’s home, confiscating a computer, a printer, a number of Falun Gong books, and some flyers.
The next day, May 16, Mr. Zhang was taken to the Anren County Police Department. The police tried to force him to write a statement “promising not to practice Falun Gong.” They also sentenced him to one year of forced labor, but allowed him to serve the term at home.
The Anren Police Department did not stop there. On August 26, the police transferred Mr. Zhang’s file to the County Procuratorate, as part of the process to sentence him to prison.
The Anren County Court schedule a trial for Mr. Zhang on November 26. But due to the effort by practitioners in China and abroad, the court canceled the trial.
Nevertheless, that did not prevent the court from fabricating the trials and delivering the verdict to Mr. Zhang’s home four months later.
Benefits from Practicing Falun Gong, Respected at Work
Mr. Zhang is a retiree from the Anren Water Company. Before he began practicing Falun Gong, he suffered from a number of physical ailments, including cholecystitis and arthritis. Both Western medicine and Chinese medicine were ineffective in addressing his condition. Mr. Zhang began practicing Falun Gong in October 1997, and his illnesses vanished. At age 76, he looks 60.
Mr. Zhang follows the Falun Gong principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in his daily life. Before he retired, he was a deputy manager in charge of engineering. Suppliers and business partners often tried to bribe him, hoping to get business but he always refused to take the money. After he explained that he was a Falun Gong practitioner, many remarked, “Falun Gong practitioners are indeed the best people.”
Parties involved in the persecution of Mr. Zhang Meifa: Zhou Jiping (周济平), head of Anren County Political and Legal Committee Cao Xiaoping (曹小平), head of Anren County 610 Office: +86-735-5227610 Zhang Yangbin (张扬斌), deputy head of the 610 Office
