Falun Gong Practitioner Zhang Zongquan from Tangshan City Put on Trial

Mr. Zhang Zongquan, 48 years old, is a resident of Wanggezhuang Village, near Tangshan City, Hebei Province. At 3:30 p.m. on July 10th, 2008, his home was raided by more than 10 policemen led by Li Chunyuan from the Security Office of Fengrun District, Tangshan City. Also leading the raid was Chief of the Chahe Town Police Station Wang Guofu and residential policeman Zhang Zhaodan. Although Mr. Zhang had been forced to leave his home indefinitely, he was still arrested on July 29th, 2008 in the Hancheng Town, Fengrun District and was taken to the Fengrun Detention Centre.

When he was held in the detention centre, Mr. Zhang's family members sought advice from two local lawyers. The first lawyer, with an official certificate issued by authorities, went to the detention centre and requested to see his client immediately. He was refused by the police with no reason given. Zhang Zongquan's family members then consulted another lawyer. This time, they spent nearly 10,000 yuan¹ to bribe the authorities because they knew that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials would not consider their case without receiving money from them. The lawyer was not allowed to see Mr. Zhang until December 8th. Under pressure from the CCP, he told Mr. Zhang to cooperate with the authorities, otherwise he would be sentenced to imprisonment by the end of the month.

At 9:00 a.m. on December 10th, 2008, Mr. Zhang was brought to the Fengrun District Court of Tangshan City, Hebei Province. The trial took place in a small room and was conducted by only a judge and a court recorder. In the room there was only a desk and chair. The whole process was merely a formality.

Mr. Zhang defended himself without a lawyer present. He said, "There is nothing wrong with the Falun Gong principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Falun Gong practitioners try to be good people and they are completely innocent." He also told the judge that the police had tortured him and injured his leg as a part of their interrogation. When the family asked that he be allowed to show his injury, the judge denied the request.

The judge asked Mr. Zhang if he had copied the Falun Gong disks exposing the persecution himself. He replied, "When two policemen extorted a confession from me by sticking two electric batons on me, I said that I did. It was not possible to think clearly while being tortured."

The trial lasted only thirty minutes and ended without a conclusion. The family members were filled with indignation at the end of the trial. One of them said, "We were forced to spend more than 10,000 yuan on you, and all that got us was this empty formality."

The Fengrun Detention Centre of Tangshan City: 86-315-5132475, 86-315-5122081
Song Dianchun, chief of the Fengrun Detention Centre of Tangshan City: 86-315-5139008 (Office), 86-13832985269 (Mobile)
Dong Fucun, chief of the National Security Group of Fengrun District: 86-315-3246066 (Home), 86-13832986066 (Mobile)
Li Chunyuan, director of 610 Office of the Fengrun District: 86-13832987098 (Mobile)
He Airong, deputy director of 610 office of the Fengrun District : 86-315-5129958, 86-13503259108 (Mobile) 86-315-3081152 (Office)
Xing Guoqi, chief of the Hancheng Town Police Station: 86-13832986621 (Mobile)

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/12/24/192170.html