New Practitioner: Filing a Lawsuit Against the Police Department and District Government After My Wife’s Arrest

(Minghui.org) My wife began to practice Falun Gong in August 1998. Since then, she’s been arrested twice for upholding her belief.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance that has been persecuted in China since July 1999.

The first arrest happened in 2001. Her coworker called me, telling me that she had been taken away by the police while at work. When I arrived at the police station, two officers asked me if my wife still practiced Falun Gong. I told them I didn't know.

“No worries. If you are honest and turn in the Falun Gong books in your home, she will be fine,” said one officer. “Otherwise, we have to go and search your place. You know that wouldn't look good in front of your family or neighbors.”

Believing the officer, I gave them the books and made a statement for the police records.

It was already too late when I realized I’d been cheated. With the books and my statement as “evidence,” the police detained my wife that same day for a 15-day term. Worried and angry, I had to search for help from friends and connections.

Fortunately, my wife was not sent to a labor camp afterwards. But I was still forced to pay 12,000 yuan in cash (about $1,500). No receipt was provided for this transaction.

Another Arrest and a Search Without Warrant

In 2017, I was watching TV after dinner when I heard a knock at the door. I thought it might be the utilities worker, so I opened up to two men I didn't know. Feeling that something was off, I tried to close the door, but they forced their way in.

“We are police officers,” said one man.

When I asked for an ID, he waved it in front of me and said, “I am from the Domestic Security Bureau, and practitioners don’t like me. Maybe you already know me.”

Seeing this situation, my wife sat quietly on the couch with both legs crossed (later on, I learned that she was sending forth righteous thoughts).

The two men made motion to search my wife’s room, but I interrupted and asked if they had a search warrant. The officer who spoke earlier took out two pieces of paper: a search warrant and a summons. Both the papers were blank. I had never seen them before, so I took pictures of them with my phone.

In my wife’s room, they found several Falun Gong books, a portrait of Mr. Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Gong), an audio player, a laptop computer, and some money with words related to Falun Gong printed on the bills. They then made a call to get more officers so that they could confiscate these items and arrest my wife.

“You can't confiscate these items. I won't go with you, either,” said my wife.

The lead officer said he could arrest my wife and confiscate the items based on Article 27 of the Public Security Administration Penalty Law.

“I hope you can discuss this with your wife,” he said.“If we take her away by force, your neighbors will see and it won’t be good for you.”

I was afraid and suggested that my wife go with them. When I asked the officer if I could come with them, he said yes.

Upon arriving at the police station, the officers kept my wife in a room for interrogation. My wife did not say anything and just kept sending forth righteous thoughts, like she did at home. After taking me to another room, the officer asked me some questions and prepared to take down my statement.

Having learned my lesson years ago, I said, “I am here to stay with my wife. I do not have the obligation to answer your questions.”

The officer's face sank.

“You can go home then.”

However, I refused to leave the police station. In the end, he took me to the lobby. Later, they briefed the officer on duty and then left for the day, leaving me standing alone in the lobby.

After half an hour, I heard my wife asking to use the bathroom. I immediately went up to the metal cage where she was detained.

“I am all right. I will return home tomorrow,” my wife said. “Please do not worry about me.”

I was not convinced, thinking: This isn't home, and whether you stay or go isn't something you or I can decide.

Nonetheless, I said I would check my network to see if someone could help out. She said there was no need.

I winked at her and said, “I can ask your ‘friends.’ Maybe they could find a lawyer for you?”

She got it and nodded.

The officer on duty asked me to leave since the police station was closing, and they would not reopen until the next day.

“Okay then,” I said to my wife, “I will leave for now and come back tomorrow.”

After getting home, I remembered a practitioner who had visited us before. One time, our satellite dish had problems and she came to repair it. Early the next day, I asked around for her address and then went to her place. She was a little surprised to see me.

I caught her up on what had happened, and she asked me what I planned to do next.

“I want to file a lawsuit for my wife’s arrest and detention,” I said.

The practitioner agreed. It just so happened that she was meeting a lawyer later that morning about another practitioner. She invited me to come along and meet the lawyer at around noon.

I left her home and hurried to the police station to buy breakfast for my wife. When I asked an officer what they planned to do with her, and was told that I'd get an update by that afternoon, at the earliest.

Meanwhile, several elderly people had come into the police station lobby. It turned out that a young man named Wei had gone to a grocery store to buy fruit the day before. Because of product quality, he quarreled with a salesperson and threw fruit on the salesperson. The store called the police and the police mediated. Wei apologized to the salesperson and paid for the damaged fruit.

But the police soon received another phone call and took Wei to the police station, saying that the store owner did not agree with the result of the mediation.

After Wei was detained, his parents, parents-in-law, and wife (who was newly pregnant) all came to the station. They acknowledged that Wei was wrong for initiating the conflict. But since he had apologized already and paid for the loss, they hoped that he could be let go with a warning, instead of being detained due to the store owner’s connections with police. In the end, the police also told them to wait in the lobby for further notice.

At noon, I met with the lawyer and recounted what had happened to my wife. Based on the situation, the lawyer told me that my wife would likely be detained for 10 to 15 days, and the best scenario was for her to be released on time.

The lawyer then explained that there were two kinds of detentions. The first one is an administrative detention, which does not involve the Procuratorate. The second one is a criminal detention, which requires the police to forward the case to the Procuratorate. Sometimes, an administrative detention could be escalated into a criminal detention. Therefore, the lawyer did not recommend that we take any action at this time, since it could make things worse.

“If the police submit the case to the Procuratorate and then charge a practitioner, what is their legal basis?” I asked.

“Article 300 of Chinese Criminal Law,” she replied.

I thanked her and left for the police station.

At a little after 3 p.m., an officer told me my wife would face a 10-day administrative detention. When I asked for a copy of the written decision, the official gave me a decision (without an official seal) stating that my wife was subject to a 10-day detention based on Article 27 of the Public Security Administration Penalty Law.

I asked to meet with my wife and had my request approved. After telling her what I had heard, she said softly, “I will be fine. They (the police officers) don’t have the final say.”

Administrative Detention

At about 7 p.m., I saw three police officers come out with my wife and Wei in tow. The two were loaded into a police van. Apparently, Wei was facing a five-day administrative detention, and his family was upset. They left without paying his physical examination fee and living expenses.

My wife asked me to drive after the police van, and I did. After we arrived at a detention center and I parked my car, one police officer came up and asked me to bring my wife’s watch back home since it was not allowed.

“Could you wait outside for a while?” my wife asked.

“Sure, I won’t leave until the officers come back out,” I replied. “Please don’t worry. I will come visit you every day. I will also bring whatever you need.”

After the officers brought my wife inside, I asked a guard what the visiting time was every day and then went back into the car. I thought about what I could do during these ten days so that my wife would suffer less and come home safely.

Suddenly I remembered that my wife often told me to send forth righteous thoughts, but I didn't know how to do that. On the other hand, she also told me before that I should recite “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” when encountering something difficult. Maybe this was sending forth righteous thoughts, I figured. So I kept reciting the two phrases in the car. In my mind, I also made a vow: If my wife can be safe this time, I would study Falun Gong too.

When I checked the time again, it was already past 8 p.m. It was completely dark outside, except for a few lights at the detention center entrance. After another half hour, the gate to the detention center opened.

“That’s it,” I told myself, “It’s time to leave and come back the next day.”

To my surprise, however, it wasn't just the three police officers—my wife and Wei also came back out. I went up asking what happened.

“Your wife had high blood pressure: 215 systolic (above 140 is considered high blood pressure). The detention center won’t admit her,” said one officer. “Please follow our van.”

Thinking they needed to go back to the police station for more paperwork, I drove after them. But it turned out the police van was heading a different direction from where we came, so I followed them closely. After some time, we arrived at a major hospital in the city.

When I got out of the car, a police officer asked me to register at the outpatient office. I did so and followed them inside. After I spoke with a female doctor on duty, a police officer came up and asked, “Can this be considered high blood pressure?”

The doctor was at least in her 40s and she seemed to know what this was all about.

“If you don't call this high blood pressure, I don’t know what you can call it then,”

She took a look at the police officer.

“Go and wait outside. I need to focus on checking the patients.”

The results soon came out: my wife had high blood pressure and Wei had heart disease. With the results of the physical examination, the officers went back to the police station.

“Tomorrow, we'll go and check with some other hospitals,” he said while handing me the physical examination result. “But your wife cannot travel these days. We will go through with her detention after she gets better. All of you can go home now.”

After we walked out of the police station, Wei said to me, “Sir, I don’t have a single penny on me since I was arrested in a rush. Could you give me a ride home?”

I told him no problem.

After getting in the car, Wei was very happy.

“Ma'am, I really want to thank you,” he said to my wife. “It was a miracle. I've never had any heart problems before and I didn't know what had happened. But I will definitely learn from this experience.”

“No worries. Please just remember the words I told you – ‘Falun Dafa is good’ and ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,’” replied my wife.

Wei said he would.

After Wei left, I asked my wife what happened. She said that the young man is a good person, but sometimes had difficulty controlling his impulses.

“So I told him to recite those phrases. After I told him about Falun Gong and the persecution, he also agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” my wife said. “He kept reciting the phrases, and soon enough, he received blessings and returned home safely.”

“I also recited those words when I was waiting outside the detention center,” I said.

My wife smiled.

Application for Administrative Reconsideration

Early next morning, my wife and I visited the practitioner who had found us the lawyer. We told her what had happened and thanked the other practitioners for their help in sending forth righteous thoughts.

During this conversation, I proposed my idea of filing a complaint against the police officers. The practitioner found some cases in which other practitioners have filed lawsuits against the police. I read them and gained some confidence.

To help with my wife's case and also prevent other practitioners from suffering from the same fate, I studied many laws in detail. They included the Chinese Constitution, the Public Security Administration Penalty Law, the Criminal Law, the Administrative Procedure Law, and the Criminal Procedure Law. I also read up on judicial interpretations, policies from the Press and Publication Administration, as well as documents from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

After studying all these laws and regulations, I suddenly realized that practicing Falun Gong was completely legal. Although the news and various publications claimed otherwise, there was not a single law that designated Falun Gong as illegal. Furthermore, the publishing of Falun Gong books is also legal. All the negative comments from the news and other publications have no basis in Chinese law.

So I decided to file an administrative lawsuit against the police officers who mistreated my wife.

This started with an administrative reconsideration at the district government level regarding the police decision of administrative detention against my wife. The main points are:

1. First, an incomplete warrant (the blank search warrant I had pictures of) was presented during the home search, thus making the search one conduced without warrant.

2. Secondly, the police did not provide a list of confiscated items for me to verify and sign.

3. Thirdly, a incomplete summons (the blank summons that I also had pictures of) was used for my wife’s detention.

4. My wife’s practice of Falun Gong did not violate any laws in China. It is thus lawful to do so.

In conclusion, I requested for the district government to 1) reverse the police’s decision to give my wife a 10-day administrative detention, and 2) return all our confiscated personal belongings.

When I submitted the administrative reconsideration application to the district government, the officer in charge gave me a weird look and asked, “Was your wife detained?”

“It was not executed because of her health,” I replied, “But the penalty decision decision is unlawful and it needs to be reversed.”

“Do you know that Falun Gong is illegal and the government has banned it?” he said.

I told him that he can go search online; there was no law that defines Falun Gong as unlawful. He asked a female staff member to check the laws and explain the situation to me. The girl searched around for quite a while before saying that there was an announcement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

I replied that, according to the Chinese Constitution, only the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee are authorized to make laws. Other agencies and individuals—including the Supreme Court and Supreme Procuratorate—can only execute laws, not legislate.

The officer looked at me.

“Stop this! If you continue, you will be arrested too,” he said.

“Administrative reconsideration is a legal right and I'm just following procedure. Why would they arrest me?” I asked.

He paused for a while and said, “Okay, you can leave the application here.”

I said that according to the law, I should receive a receipt. He asked the girl to issue a receipt to me. When I asked if she had received any requests for administrative reconsideration in the past, she shook her head.

One week passed and I received a phone call telling me that the decision of my request was ready for pickup. I went to the district government the following day and the girl gave me the decision file.

The statement simply reiterated the police’s reason of penalty without mentioning my questions at all. Seeing that the original decision was upheld, I asked her why the illegal actions of the police I mentioned were not addressed. She said that she did not know.

“Can I speak with with the officer who wrote this decision?” I asked.

“They are not available,” she replied.

I explained to her that in this situation, I had no choice but to file a lawsuit against the police as well as the district government.

Filing a Lawsuit in Court

After returning home, I began write a lawsuit. Based on the Administrative Procedure Law, I brought a lawsuit to the city intermediate court. It was against illegal actions from the police and inaction of the district government to correct what the police had done.

When submitting the lawsuit to the case-filing court of the city intermediate court, a staff member took a look at my case. He them told me he needed to double-check since it was related to Falun Gong. A female judge then came and said the case could not be filed. I then asked her why.

“No reason. It just cannot be filed,” she replied.

“Based on our laws, if my case cannot be filed, please provide me a dated ruling explaining why it cannot be filed,” I said.

“This cannot be filed and there is no ruling,” she said. “There is no reason—it just cannot be filed.”

When I said this was against the law, she did not say anything.

After a while, four bailiffs showed up asking what had happened. They were all surprised because I was the only one in the lobby who was not a staff member of the court—and I was sitting there quietly.

“Why were we called here?” One bailiff asked.

“I don’t know,” one staff member said. “We can check with the higher officials.”

Then, the female judge came out again. I repeated what I had said earlier about the court being in violation of the law; I said that I would sue them.

“You can sue wherever you want,” she replied, “Your case will not be filed and there will be no reason given.”

On the next day, I went to the information desk of city intermediate court asking how I could report the illegal actions of the case-filing court. One person told me to call the court's supervision office. I followed the instructions and made a phone call.

An officer asked me to wait in the lobby. After a while, someone came and I explained him what happened. When he asked for the documentation of the case, I gave it to him; he said he would would get back to me.

One week passed and there was no update. I called the supervision office of the city intermediate court again.

“I have mediated the case,” the officer said, “Please follow up with the case-filing court.”

I called the court but there was no change. The case could not be filed and there was no reason given. And I was told to contact whoever wanted to file this case.

It continued like this. I made a few more phone calls and both places shirked the responsibility on each other. Things went nowhere.

Suppressing the Vicious in a Lawless Society

I received a phone call about one month later. The person said that he was from the police station and he would like to talk with me. I said no. But his attitude was very good and he told me again and again that he did not have any ill intent. He just wanted to meet me and told me I could decide a time and location.

I thought about it and said that we could meet half an hour later at a community park. He agreed. I left for the park with the lawsuit I submitted to the court.

The person turned out to be a deputy director of the police station. He asked if my wife felt better and if anything they had done was improper. I noticed that he was interested in the administrative reconsideration, so I told him I had brought a lawsuit to the intermediate court and showed him the document. I also explained how the entire process was unlawful.

This person said that they just followed orders and that the two police officers did not mistreat my wife. He also said the two officers had just graduated from a police academy two years earlier; it was not easy for them to find a job.

“They are also here. But I was afraid you may not want to see them, so I told them to wait in the car,” he continued.

I told him that it did not matter if the two police officers mistreated my wife or not. My lawsuit was to show how the entire process was unlawful. When he asked if there was anything he could do, I mentioned my personal belongings. He asked the two officers to come out, but they said that they did not have the items with them.

“All right then,” said the deputy director of the police office, “We will not bring up your wife’s detention again. I can guarantee that. I will try to get your things back to you.”

He hoped that I could be considerate of the two police officers since it was not easy for them to have a job. Plus they were young. He also said that I could contact him directly if there was anything else I needed.

From this lawsuit, I have truly recognized the viciousness of the CCP—from the police, to the local government, to the courts. When ordinary citizens are not familiar with the law, it's easy for the CCP to deceive and frame people. When citizens reason with them based on the law, they play dumb instead of resolving the problem. I hope more practitioners can take action to help innocent practitioners and suppress these vicious actors.

Throughout this process, I also experienced how wonderful Falun Gong is, and realized that it is completely legal to practice.

Since then, I began to listen to audio lectures and read Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Gong. The chronic diseases that had bothered me for over ten years are now gone, and I am healthy and energetic. Plus, the teachings of Falun Gong have also made me a better person.

I am so happy and grateful for all of these blessings.