(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Jianmei and her mother arrived home on the afternoon of April 14, 2014 to find two dozen police officers waiting there.
The police broke the glass of their vehicle, dragged Ms. Li out, and arrested her. Her 87-year-old mother was terrorized and traumatized by the scene and has remained bedridden since then. She had to be wheeled into the courtroom to attend Ms. Li's trial in February of 2015.
Ms. Li Jianmei
Ms. Li's Bedridden Mother
After the arrest, Ms. Li's rental home and her mother's residence were broken into and ransacked by the police. Ms. Li has been jailed ever since, even after her trial produced no verdict.
Ms. Li's Arrest Warrant (handwritten note reading “Li Jianmei refused to sign the warrant)
Ms. Li's Detention Warrant (handwritten note reading “Li Jianmei refused to sign the warrant)
Two Hearings Without a Verdict
Ms. Li was tried by Huaiyin District Court of Jinan City, Shandong Province, on February 13, 2015. While a large contingent of police was stationed at the court entrance, a dozen seats in the audience were occupied by plain-clothed policemen. A few of Ms. Li's relatives were allowed to enter the courtroom and sit in on the trial.
Prosecutors charged Ms. Li with “using a cult organization to sabotage law enforcement” but refused to produce any evidence.
The court claimed that Ms. Li's daughter could not sit in the audience and had to wait outside the courtroom because she was one of the witnesses. Yet when the defense called her to testify, the prosecutors, with the support from Presiding Judge Zhu Zhenju, did not allow her to even enter the courtroom. Eventually, Ms. Li's daughter, who is disabled by ankylosing spondylitis, had to stay outside the court from 9:30 am until the end of the trial at 6 pm.
Ms. Li's daughter's disability card
Ms. Li appeared to be very weak and had to be carried into the courtroom. She testified that she was tortured during detention at the Jinan City Detention Center, which rendered her unable to walk on her own. The presiding judge interrupted her and declared that her testimony was irrelevant to the trial. The court adjourned due to the lack of evidence.
The trial resumed on May 8, 2015 in a secluded conference room located inside the Jinan City Detention Center. Ms. Li was carried into the room on the back of a guard.
The prosecutors did not produce any new evidence. The defense lawyer argued for Ms. Li's innocence for keeping up her belief and practice of Falun Gong. The presiding judge ended the trial and claimed that the verdict was to be issued later.
Three Previous Terms of Forced Labor
Ms. Li Jianmei, 56, suffered a congenital dislocation of the hip and had difficulty walking on her own. Since her practice of Falun Gong, her legs no longer hurt and she could walk normally.
Due to her practicing Falun Gong, she had been sentenced to three years, one year and nine months, and one year of forced labor in October 2000, July 2003, and October 2007, respectively.
She was forced to do hard labor and subjected to torture during her labor terms at Shandong Province's First Women's Labor Camp. Each of her terms was extended because she refused to give up her practice of Falun Gong.
Further details of her persecution can be found in a previously published article at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/12/13/67846.html.
As Ms. Li remains incarcerated following her latest arrest, her bedridden mother and disabled daughter are left home to fend for themselves.
