(Minghui.org) A 78-year-old resident of Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, had to appear in court for the second time, on June 28, 2024, because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The prosecutor more than doubled the amount of Falun Gong informational materials he claimed were confiscated from Ms. Fu Yizhi’s home that he cited as evidence against her during her first hearing on January 5, 2024. The judge threatened to give Ms. Fu at least three years given the volume of materials that were allegedly hers. She adjourned the hearing when Ms. Fu demanded to know what legal basis she had to prosecute her for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Ms. Fu remains on house arrest after the hearing. This is not the first time she has been targeted for her faith, which she credits for curing her cervical spondylosis, Meniere’s syndrome, uterine prolapse, uterine fibroids, and gastritis. She was previously arrested in September 2001 and later given a forced labor term (the length is not known). Her husband was ordered to divorce her but he refused.
Latest Persecution Stems from Arrest in 2022
About eight officers from the Dashanping Police Station broke into Ms. Fu’s home on October 23, 2022 and confiscated her Falun Gong books, informational materials, music player, and other personal belongings.
The police did not show a search warrant (as required by law) or give her a list of confiscated items. They claimed that they saw from their surveillance videos that she placed Falun Gong informational materials on two cars at a local bus station. They took her to the police station for a brief interrogation before releasing her on six-month house arrest.
Three officers from the same police station and a woman in plainclothes broke into Ms. Fu’s home on November 4, 2022. One of the officers was involved in her arrest weeks prior. The woman asked about her daily activities. Another officer videotaped their conversation.
House Arrest Renewed Two Times Before First Court Hearing
The Lu County Police Department later took over the case and submitted a recommendation to indict Ms. Yuan to the Lu County Procuratorate on April 28, 2023. Lu County is under the administration of Luzhou City.
Ms. Fu was summoned to the procuratorate on May 9, 2023 to sign paperwork to renew her six-month-house-arrest.
The Lu County Court notified Ms. Fu on October 25, 2023 to report to them the next day without telling her why. She went the next day and was made to wait from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A judge came and ordered her to sign a six-month-house-arrest notice (with her second six-month-house-arrest expiring). He also ordered that a copy of the notice be sent to the Dashanping Police Station, which was tasked with monitoring her.
Indicted and Threatened by Court-appointed Lawyer
The judge told Ms. Fu that the Lu County Procuratorate indicted her, but she was not given a copy of the indictment that day. A few weeks later, she received the indictment in the mail and noted the indictment was dated October 26, 2023.
Another judge surnamed Qin called Ms. Fu on November 27, 2023 to meet at a place near her home. It turned out he was delivering a court hearing notice. The notice was dated November 27, 2020 and stated that Ms. Fu was set to stand trial on January 5, 2024.
The court then appointed a lawyer to represent Ms. Fu. The lawyer visited her and attempted to make her admit her “guilt” in practicing Falun Gong. She refused and the lawyer threatened her with a prison sentence. Her children were terrified and urged her to comply with the lawyer. She was not moved and her children threatened to kick her out of their shared residence. She understood her children’s fear of seeing her jailed and so she lived away from home for a period of time.
First Court Hearing Followed by Renewal of House Arrest
Ms. Fu’s children later changed their minds and accompanied her to the hearing on January 5, 2024. They, however, were barred from attending the trial.
During the hearing, Ms. Fu testified that the police for fabricated evidence against her. She said that while she did own the 50 Falun Gong books that were confiscated, she never possessed the more than one hundred copies of Falun Gong materials claimed in the indictment. She pointed out that the police never allowed her to verify the items confiscated from her home.
The indictment also stated that Ms. Fu was seen placing Falun Gong informational materials on two cars at the local bus station. It is unclear whether this was a fact. Even if she did, there is nothing wrong with distributing Falun Gong materials as no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong.
Ms. Fu was allowed to go home after the hearing. The judge did not schedule another hearing but issued another six-month-house-arrest on April 24, 2024.
Police Attempt to Take Ms. Fu Back Into Custody
The Yunlong Police Station summoned Ms. Fu recently and took her to a hospital for a physical examination. She was found to be unfit for detention, but the police still drove her to a local detention center after the checkup. The detention center refused to admit her after she failed an onsite physical exam.
The police had no choice but to send Ms. Fu home. They later summoned her again and photographed her. They also tried to collect her fingerprints but somehow just couldn’t collect them even after they wiped her fingers and the equipment with alcohol. Officer Mao Kun said, “No worries! We can use others’ fingerprints on her file!”
Second Court Hearing
Ms. Fu had a second hearing on June 28, 2024. She was shocked to hear prosecutor Zhang Yixing read out aloud the revised evidence against her. The amount of Falun Gong materials confiscated from her home was now listed as 250 copies. The prosecutor claimed that he played some of the DVDs and counted each DVD as multiple copies of materials given the information it contained.
Judge Shen Xi threatened to sentence Ms. Fu to at least three years given the sheer amount of materials. She adjourned the hearing as soon as Ms. Fu challenged her to present the legal basis for the wrongful prosecution.
The prosecutor ordered Ms. Fu to sign some paperwork and she refused. Her children were then asked to sign on her behalf but she stopped them.
The court-appointed lawyer remained silent during the entire hearing. Afterward she told Ms. Fu’s children, “Your mother had a very bad attitude today. Be prepared for a heavy sentence. There may not be another hearing. Just wait for a verdict.”
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