(Minghui.org) A Kunming City, Yunnan Province, resident was sentenced to three years with a 5,000-yuan fine in late February 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Mr. Wen Yongshu has appealed with the Kunming City Intermediate Court. His wife, Ms. Dong Kaizhen, also filed complaints against the judiciary officials involved in his case for wrongfully prosecuting him for his faith.
Ms. Dong said her world collapsed after her husband’s arrest. She married Mr. Wen after he got divorced and her first husband died of an illness. They each had a daughter from their previous marriages. Mr. Wen had also adopted an abandoned girl years ago. Mr. Wen and Ms. Dong had a son together later on.
Ms. Dong praised Mr. Wen for being a hands-on father to their four children and a filial son to his elderly parents (his father is blind in both eyes, and his mother is blind in her left eye and suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes).
After Mr. Wen’s arrest, Ms. Dong and her three daughters sought his release, but to no avail. Her son, an elementary school student around 10 years old, cried for his father every day.
Violent Arrest and Home Ransacking
Mr. Wen, 56, used to work at the Southwest Instrument Factory and also taught at Yunnan Mechanical and Electrical Vocational and Technical College. According to his wife Ms. Dong, she was having lunch with one of their three daughters at home around 1 p.m. on July 31, 2023, when they heard the sound of Mr. Wen’s motorcycle, signaling that he was back for lunch. When he still didn’t come inside after 20 minutes, they looked into the peephole on the front door to check the situation in the hallway.
Upon seeing many people outside, Mr. Wen’s daughter opened the door, thinking they were her father’s friends. About 15 officers barged in, with only two of them wearing police uniform (badge number 017683 and 017745). Mr. Wen was also brought inside, still wearing his motorcycle helmet. Two plainclothes officers held his arms tightly and didn’t allow him to move.
Ms. Dong and their daughter were terrified. As Ms. Dong was still wearing pajamas, she tried to get changed in her bedroom, but was stopped by the police.
The police searched everywhere, leaving a mess at the couple’s place. Mr. Wen’s daughter asked if they had a search warrant. The police said yes, but without showing anything. They also claimed they were searching each and every apartment unit in the building.
Ms. Dong asked the officers where they came from. She demanded to see their IDs and have their phone numbers. The police refused to answer, but dared her to call 110 (the general police emergency number in China). She kept asking for their specific information and the police finally revealed that they were with the Jinning District Domestic Security Office.
The police spent the next three hours searching every corner of Mr. Wen’s home, confiscating his Falun Gong related items, flash-drive, books, photos, cellphone, keys and motorcycle, as well as his daughter’s tablet and Ms. Dong’s purse.
The police ordered Mr. Wen to confirm the confiscated items were his, but without providing a formal list as required by law. When the police were carrying the items downstairs, Ms. Dong chased them and demanded that they return her home keys, office key and her daughter’s tablet, which is needed for her schoolwork. The police relented after a long standoff. When Mr. Wen’s daughter came downstairs, she was blocked at the building exit by two plainclothes officers.
During the three-hour raid, Mr. Wen was held tightly by the police, not allowed to eat or drink. The police didn’t allow him to remove his helmet and also watched him when he used the restroom.
Daughter Interrogated
When the police took Mr. Wen away, they gave Ms. Dong the phone number “+86-871-67802808.” But when she called the number to inquire about his case, she only got a voice message saying, “This is the environmental supervision department.” She realized that the police had deceived her and given her a wrong number.
On August 2, 2023, after three days of constant inquiring, Ms. Dong confirmed that her husband’s case was handled by the Kunyang Police Station. She rushed to the police station with her mother-in-law, son and all three daughters, only to be told that the Jinning District Domestic Security Office was in charge of his case.
The family went to the Jinning District Domestic Security Office, but only Ms. Dong and her youngest daughter, Ms. Wen Qing, in her 20s, were allowed inside. In room 3022, they found officers Qiu Xueyan, Li Hui and Yang Yong, who were handling Mr. Wen’s case. Ms. Dong asked the police why they gave her the wrong number. Qiu denied that it was wrong. Ms. Wen called the number immediately. Qiu remained silent when their office phone didn’t ring.
Qiu held Ms. Dong and Ms. Wen in different rooms and interrogated them separately. Ms. Dong remained silent at officer Li’s questions. Upon realizing that Qiu was interrogating her daughter next door, she rushed over and knocked on the door, worrying that Qiu might torture her daughter in order to collect information against her father. Qiu opened the door, but refused to allowed Ms. Dong to read the interrogation record.
While Mr. Wen’s mother and son were anxiously waiting outside, officer Yang came out and told them that Mr. Wen had been transferred to the Jinning District Detention Center a day ago and they had also mailed the family a letter about it.
When Ms. Dong and Ms. Wen came out moments later, the family went to the detention center. Ms. Wen said that Qiu searched her and took away her audio recorder. He also deceived her into talking about her father’s Falun Gong practice. When the family arrived at the detention center, it was already after work hours and no one received them.
The family returned to the detention center at 10 a.m. the next day and confirmed that Mr. Wen was indeed detained there. They also received his detention letter from the police on the same day, which indicated that he was put on criminal detention at 2 p.m. on August 1.
The Xishan District Procuratorate approved Mr. Wen’s arrest on September 1, 2023. He is still held at the Jinning District Detention Center at the time of writing.
Wife’s Complaint Against the Police
Ms. Dong filed a complaint against Yang Weiping, the head of Jinning District Police Department, in early September 2023, accusing the police of trespassing, illegally searching their property, and abusing their power in seeking prosecution of her husband. She demanded the police immediately release Mr. Wen and issue a public apology to the family. She also sought financial compensation.
She said in the complaint, “I heard my husband was charged with ‘undermining law enforcement with a cult organization.’ I searched the enacted laws in China, but didn’t see any that listed Falun Gong as a cult. I demand that you show me the legal basis used to press such charges against my husband, and also details of which law’s enforcement was allegedly undermined by him.”
As she didn’t receive any response to the complaint, she submitted more letters to the procuratorate in mid-October 2023, urging them to dismiss her husband’s case, release him, and return all items confiscated from the family.
Indictment
On October 25, 2023, prosecutor Zhang Yanlin of the Xishan District Procuratorate called Ms. Dong and asked her if they would hire a lawyer for him. (Zhang repeatedly refused to reveal her name, but Ms. Dong managed to confirm her name later on.)
Ms. Dong went to the procuratorate the next morning and gave Zhang her complaint against the police and her letters demanding Zhang to dismiss her husband’s case and release him. Zhang’s assistant, Xu Haidong, was also present. (Xu also refused to reveal his name, but the family saw his name on the verdict.) Zhang again asked her whether she was hiring a lawyer; otherwise she would have the justice bureau appoint a lawyer for him.
As the family couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer, Ms. Dong applied to be his family non-lawyer defender. She also went to the detention center to get his signature on the paperwork.
Ms. Dong went to the procuratorate again on October 30, 2023 and urged Zhang to dismiss his case and return confiscated items. Zhang still refused to tell Ms. Dong her name when being asked. She insisted that it’s impossible for her not to indict Mr. Wen and that she wouldn’t return the confiscated items.
Ms. Dong submitted her requests again on November 6, 2023 and Zhang still said no to all. Zhang also blocked Ms. Dongfrom reviewing her husband’s case file or visiting him. Zhang claimed that only lawyers would be allowed to review the case file as they wouldn’t reveal it to the public. She claimed that she did not trust Ms. Dong as the latter might expose Mr. Wen’s persecution to the outside world. Ms. Dong demanded to know the legal basis for Zhang’s claim, but Zhang couldn’t produce it. She used the same reason to deny Ms. Dong’s request to visit Mr. Wen before leaving in a hurry.
Zhang indicted Mr. Wen on November 16, 2023, with the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization.” She refused to provide a copy of the indictment to Ms. Dong but directed her to the judge instead.
Ms. Dong filed complaints against Zhang for illegally indicting her husband and denying her rights as a family defender.
Legal Representation Obstructed
As soon as Mr. Wen’s case was moved to the Xishan District Court in mid-December 2023, Ms. Dong contacted judge Pu Huijun in charge of his case as his family defender. With her persistent requests, the judge finally provided a copy of his indictment. She also demanded the judge to allow her to review his case file and visit him, as well as to return the confiscated items and exclude them from his prosecution evidence. Pu ignored her requests.
On January 10, 2024, Mr. Wen’s family hired a lawyer for him. When the lawyer and Ms. Dong went to the court to review his case file, judge Pu still denied Ms. Dong’s request to visit her husband or communicate with him in other forms. He allowed the lawyer to review and make copies of the case file, but not Ms. Dong. He again refused to return the confiscated items or exclude them from prosecution evidence.
While the lawyer was reviewing Mr. Wen’s case file, the judge and bailiff forced Ms. Dong to turn in her cellphone and delete all audio recordings in it. They claimed that since Mr. Wen already had a lawyer, she could no longer be his family defender, even when the Chinese law allows the defendant to have up to two defenders.
Not satisfied with the lawyer’s performance, Ms. Dong dismissed him on January 11, 2024, but hired a friend to represent her husband as a non-lawyer defender. Although the law allows a friend to be one’s non-lawyer defender, judge Pu insisted for the friend to demonstrate his family relationship with Mr. Wen, claiming that only a family member could be his non-lawyer defender. Even after Ms. Dong obtained a letter to demonstrate the friend relationship according to the law, judge Pu still barred him from representing Mr. Wen and only accepted his written defense statement.
Ms. Dong also filed a complaint against judge Pu for obstructing legal representation of her husband.
Court Hearing and Sentence
Judge Pu held a hearing of Mr. Wen’s case on January 30, 2024, without allowing his friend to defend him in court as a non-lawyer defender. Upon finding out that the friend had entered the court and passed the security screening, the police (officers of the Xishan District Domestic Security Office and Wuhua District Domestic Security Office) forcibly removed him from the courthouse and didn’t allow him to re-enter.
Meanwhile, Ms. Dong was re-granted the seat of Mr. Wen’s family defender. Only she and their oldest daughter, Ms. Wen Xin, were allowed to attend the hearing. All other relatives and friends who came to support Mr. Wen were stopped at the entrance of the court and watched by the police until the end of the hearing.
Ms. Dong requested at least five times for judge Pu to show the legal basis for his claim that Falun Gong was a cult, but Pu repeatedly ignored her. Neither he nor prosecutor Zhang provided any information about which law’s enforcement was undermined by Mr. Wen.
Prosecutor Zhang only described the evidence, but without showing the real items in court. Zhang also read aninterrogation account of Mr. Wen’s youngest daughter about her father’s practicing of Falun Gong, despite the fact that the account wasn’t included in Mr. Wen’s case file. Ms. Dong argued that her daughter was forced to provide the information after being terrified by the police. And it’s her husband’s freedom of belief to practice Falun Gong, which didn’t violate any law.
No witness was present to accept cross examination either. Ms. Dong demanded the prosecutor to exhibit the evidence and the judge to summon the witnesses, but to no avail.
Ms. Dong demanded many times to read her defense statement, but was rejected by judge Pu. Only during the closing argument section did Pu allow her to read it, but he stopped her after she only read the opening. Mr. Wen’s own defense was repeatedly interrupted by Pu as well, who also barred him from making a closing statement.
Judge Pu sentenced Mr. Wen to three years with a 5,000-yuan fine on February 20, 2024.
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