The 610 Office in Fuzhou City Orders the Justice Bureau to Pressure Attorney

On January 19th, 2011, Mr. Zuo Fusheng was arrested on his way to work by chief Lin Feng and several officers from the Fuzhou Domestic Security Team. The officers later ransacked Mr. Zuo's home and approved his arrest. The 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) in Fuzhou City directed the Cangshan District Procuratorate and Court to escalate the persecution of Mr. Zuo. The Cangshan District Court created many obstacles to interfere with the attorney in reading the case files and meeting with his client. In the meantime, the 610 Office ordered the Justice Bureau in the attorney's city to pressure the attorney to not attend the trial.

Mr. Zuo has been held at the Fuzhou City No. 1 Detention Centre for more than nine months. During this time, his family has repeatedly requested his release without success. His family recently filed a lawsuit against the Cangshan District Procuratorate for their extended and detention of Mr. Zuo and requested that he be released immediately.

Mr. Zuo's 80-year-old mother asked an attorney from another city to represent him. On October 12th, Mr. Zuo's family received a postcard from Mr. Zuo saying that he had received the indictment from the Cangshan District Procuratorate on October 8th and that he wished to meet with his attorney. However, the Cangshan District Court created many obstacles to prevent the attorney from reading the case files and meeting with his client. After the attorney left the courthouse, Judge Cai Wenjian went to the detention centre and lied to Mr. Zuo, saying, “The attorney hasn't come to see you. There will be nobody to defend you in court.” Mr. Zuo's family called the attorney again and learned that the 610 Office had ordered the Justice Bureau in the attorney's city to pressure the attorney to not attend the trial.

Mr. Zuo's family asked two other attorneys from Beijing to help. The two attorneys arrived at Fuzhou on October 31st. That afternoon, they went to the detention centre and met with Mr. Zuo. The attorneys recorded their conversations, and Mr. Zuo signed the authorisation form and the meeting record.

The next morning, the two attorneys went to the Cangshan District Court to see Judge Cai Wenjian. Judge Cai was surprised to see Mr. Zuo's signatures and asked how they had got clearance to see him. The attorneys said that they had all the documents with them, so they were allowed to meet Mr. Zuo. Cai then said he needed a copy of Mr. Zuo's mother's ID, needed to record the two attorneys' licences, and that he needed to check with his supervisor. He said that he would call the attorneys but stated that his phone could not make long distance calls. The attorneys were not at all intimidated by the judge's demands and said, “We'll call you then.”

This is not the first time that Judge Cai Wenjian has created obstacles for attorneys and infringed upon clients' legal rights. In 2010, Cai used the same tactics to prevent two Beijing attorneys from defending practitioner Ms. Ye Qiaoming. He coerced Ms. Ye's son to terminate the agreement with her attorneys, and the Cangshan District Court later sentenced her to three years in prison with four years' probation.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/11/6/248782.html