(Minghui.org) After 21 months of detention, a Beijing resident is set to appear in court on February 6, 2023 for his faith in Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Zhu Rui was stopped by the police while on his way to work on April 21, 2021. The police claimed that he was reported for carrying a device that could send information about Falun Gong to people’s cellphones. 

That same morning, the police ransacked Mr. Zhu’s home, confiscating his Falun Gong books, laptop and other personal belongings. The police also forced him to open his safe and attempted to take away the cash and foreign currency in it. They relented after Mr. Zhu strongly protested, saying that the money was his father’s life savings. While searching the room of Mr. Zhu’s mother, who also shared the residence with him, the police broke the lock on her closet. 

Mr. Zhu was first taken to the Pingxifu Police Station and transferred to the Beijing City No. 3 Detention Center the next day. 

Mr. Zhu’s mother met with officer Xu Bingdong in charge of his case on July 12, 2021. Xu insisted that Mr. Zhu violated the law by practicing Falun Gong, despite the lack of any legal basis for the persecution. 

Mr. Zhu’s mother also called officer Zhao Hui, but he claimed that she dialed the wrong number. She then called the Pingxifu Police Station and the person who picked up the phone also claimed that they didn’t have an officer named Zhao Hui.

Mr. Zhu’s mother called the police station again at 9 a.m. on July 13 and insisted on meeting with officer Zhao. An officer called back two hours later and said she could meet with Zhao at 9 a.m. two days later.

When Mr. Zhu’s mother arrived at the police station on July 15, Zhao interrogated her for one and a half hours, instead of addressing her concern about her son’s case.

On July 19, Mr. Zhu’s mother filed a complaint against Xu, Zhao and police chief Sun for wrongfully handling her son’s case.

One day after Mr. Zhu’s case was submitted to the Haidian District Procuratorate on July 28, he was transferred to the Haidian District Detention Center, where he has been held since.

Mr. Zhu’s parents wrote a letter to prosecutor Dong Liyan on August 8, urging her not to indict their son. As they never received any response, they called Dong on August 27. Dong refused to meet with them, claiming that she didn’t have any say in Mr. Zhu’s case.

When Mr. Zhu’s father said that practicing Falun Gong doesn’t violate any law in China, Dong stopped him and said he shouldn’t talk about law with her. Dong also indicated that she would indict Mr. Zhu in a few days. 

On September 9, 2021, Mr. Zhu’s family filed another complaint against Dong for abusing the law in handling Mr. Zhu’s case. The family also demanded that Dong withdraw the indictment against Mr. Zhu, but to no avail.

Despite the family’s tireless effort to advocate for Mr. Zhu, the authorities still proceeded with the prosecution of his case. The family was recently informed by their lawyer that the Haidian District Court scheduled a hearing of Mr. Zhu’s case for February 6, 2023. The judge denied the family’s requests to defend Mr. Zhu in court, with the excuse that they had already hired a lawyer for him.