(Minghui.org) A Suizhong County, Liaoning Province resident appeared in Suizhong County Court on September 10, 2019 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhao Huanzhen's lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him. He also testified in his own defense. The judge frequently interrupted their defense whenever Falun Gong was mentioned.
The court played a video of the police arresting Mr. Zhao on May 19, 2019 after he was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The video showed the police confiscating Falun Gong informational booklets from Mr. Zhao.
Mr. Zhao testified against the police for fabricating evidence in their attempts to escalate charges against him. He pointed out that the police only found 33 copies of Falun Gong related booklets at his home, but they collected 20 more booklets from other places and counted those as his. He pointed out that the video played in court showed that none of the extra copies was ever found from his home.
One of Mr. Zhao's family members also defended him. His family complained about the police and detention center guards for abusing the 65-year-old man in custody.
Mr. Zhao testified that a police officer named Zhang Jingxin punched him in the chest in a corner without surveillance camera coverage. During his four-month detention, the detention center guards forced him to do hard labor every day and force fed him when he held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. He lost a significant amount of body weight and became much weaker during this period.
Judge Xie Dan didn't respond to Mr. Zhao. She soon adjourned the hearing and said that she wasn't in the position to determine the outcome of the case.
Prior to the hearing, Wang Baomin, the head of Suizhong County Domestic Security Division, demanded Mr. Zhao's wife and daughter to say “knock down Falun Gong” before allowing them to enter the courtroom. They refused to comply and were barred from attending the hearing.
