(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhan Shufen from Qiqihar City was tried on December 29, 2014 at the Longjiang County Courthouse. She was charged with “undermining law enforcement,” a charge commonly used by the Chinese communist regime to illegally imprison Falun Gong practitioners for refusing to renounce their faith.
An unidentified man sat in on the trial and directed the proceedings.
After postponing the trial twice, the Longjiang County Court tried Ms. Zhan on the morning of December 29, 2014, for distributing information about the persecution of Falun Gong.
During the trial, an unidentified middle-aged man sat in the front row. Throughout the trial, he repeatedly gestured with his hands to the presiding judge to stop Ms. Zhan whenever she began speaking. He even stopped Ms. Zhan's attorneys when they defended her.
“Falun Gong as a belief is protected by both the Chinese Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” contested one of her lawyers. “Thus, practicing Falun Gong is completely legal.”
Procurator Zhan Hongbo accused Ms. Zhan of spreading information about Falun Gong that undermines law enforcement. She pointed to items she claimed were seized from Ms. Zhan's home as evidence. She asked that Ms. Zhan be given a three-year sentence.
At the end of the trial, Ms. Zhan testified that Falun Gong gave her good health and improved her moral character.
When one of Ms. Zhan's friends took a photo of her being taken to a police vehicle, he was arrested and later detained at the Longjiang County Detention Center.
About 20 of Ms. Zhan's relatives and friends, including Ms. Zhan's four immediate family members, observed the court proceedings. However, her daughter and son-in-law were stopped at the entrance and told that the courtroom was full. In fact, there were still many vacant seats.
When her family members and friends entered the courtroom, about 60 seats were already taken by court-arranged personnel, who effectively surrounded her friends and relatives after they were seated.
Ms. Zhan was arrested at her daughter's home by officers from the Domestic Security Division of the Longjiang Police Department and the Heigang Township Police Station on January 26, 2015. Officers raided her home without a warrant and seized several personal items.
Six officers from the Longjiang County Domestic Security Division and local police stations ransacked the home of Ms. Zhan's daughter, Li Lamei, without showing a search warrant on February 5, 2015. They seized a computer and a portable hard drive.
Two of Ms. Zhan's daughters went to the Longjiang Police Department Domestic Security Division to ask about their mother on March 31, 2015. Zhang Zeyue, director of Heigang Township Police Station, tried to make Ms. Zhan's daughter Li Lamei sign a document that would allow her mother a release on bail. She refused because her mother had not commited a crime. Zhang Zeyue and officer Wang Yan then grabbed her hair and pushed her head down, forcing her to sign.
Li Lamei's sister had to sign the document for her in the end. She was afraid that the police would not let Li Lamei, who has two young children, return home.
Li Lamei requested that the Domestic Security Division release her mother on April 16. Police threatened to arrest her and give her mother a heavy sentence.