(Minghui.org) An elderly woman was home on October 27 when a group of plainclothes police brought her daughter-in-law to her house.

The younger woman begged her, “Mom, the police said you must go to the court to sign some paperwork and they promise it won’t take long.”

Ms. Cheng Sigui, a Luzhou City resident in her 70s, knew something wasn’t right when she saw Qiao Jianhua, head of local domestic security office, at the door too. The same man tricked her into going to the courthouse on March 31, 2016, when she was subjected to a surprise trial for talking to people about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

She refused to comply with the demand, as she did nothing wrong by exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief and freedom of the press. The police grabbed her and drove her and her daughter-in-law to the courthouse.

There was no paperwork awaiting Ms. Cheng. Instead, she saw the same judge and prosecutor file in minutes later. She realized they were to hold the second hearing in her trial.

The prosecutor read aloud the indictment, charging her with more crimes. He then asked if Ms. Cheng had anything to say.

The judge, who hadn’t said a single word since the beginning of the hearing, suddenly left even before Ms. Cheng opened her mouth to answer the prosecutor’s question.

The clerk walked up to her, demanding that she sign the court proceedings. She refused, and an officer told her daughter-in-law that a verdict would be delivered to them later.

In retrospect, Ms. Cheng realized the police had been intimidating her daughter-in-law all along. She remembered the younger woman said to her multiple times that she needed to go to the courthouse.

Ms. Cheng was arrested on August 30, 2015 for telling people about the persecution of Falun Gong. While she was later released on bail, the authorities never gave her a chance to hire defense lawyers.

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