(Minghui.org) A judge in Yunnan Province held another hearing for Ms. Gao Cuifang in a makeshift courtroom in Kunming Detention Center on October 9, 2018. The same judge had previously forced Ms. Gao to sit through a four-hour hearing on August 10, 2018, despite her being near collapse.
Critically ill, Ms. Gao was too weak to maintain a sitting position or even lift her head to answer the judge or her lawyer's questions during the second hearing.
At her lawyer's insistence, judge Zhang Yunjiang adjourned the hearing so that Ms. Gao could rest. He ordered her to be carried outside the courthouse and sat on the ground, still handcuffed.
Ms. Gao sitting on the ground during a break
During the break, the lawyer cited Ms. Gao's recent physical exam that indicated her life-threatening condition and requested medical parole for her.
The Kunming Detention Center, where Ms. Gao has been held since her arrest on April 29, 2018, for putting up posters with the message “Falun Dafa is good,” also recommended parole.
Judge Zhang later ended the hearing around noon and didn't indicate whether he would release her.
The local procuratorate had Ms. Gao's husband sign a document on October 10 and said that they would release her on medical parole in two days. Her lawyer received a text message from court clerk Yang Xiaoqi on October 11 saying that a third hearing on her case had been set for October 15.
Ms. Gao's family went to Xundian Court on October 12 to demand her medical parole, but judge Zhang refused to meet with them.
It wasn't clear whether the third hearing took place on October 15.
Previous report:Near Collapse, Woman Forced to Sit Through 4-Hour Hearing
