Falun Gong Practitioner Couple Sent to Court

At 9 a.m. on October 27th, 2009, Liao Xiaohong and Shi Jiaoyu, a Falun Gong practitioner couple from Hunan Province, were sent to the Beihu District Court in Chenzhou City. Concerned relatives and friends were refused entry by the court police unless they showed their identification.

Mr. Liao Xiaohong, 37 years old, worked in Changsha City, while his wife Ms. Shi Jiaoyu, 38, was working in Guangzhou City. They have an eight-year-old daughter. In the ten years of persecution of Falun Gong in China, the couple has spent very little time together or with their daughter because they have been arrested, detained, or imprisoned at forced labour camps many times. Their daughter has been raised mainly by relatives.

On April 21st, 2009, some 610 Office¹ staff and policemen from the local police station and the Domestic Security Division arrested the couple while they were working at a small store in the Liuxian Mall in Chenzhou City. Their home was searched. The wife was released that night, but the husband is still being detained at the Chenzhou Detention Centre.

Trying to secure the release of her husband, Shi Jiaoyu went to the Chenzhou Police Station, the Domestic Security Division, the 610 Office, and various legal departments to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution, and continually requested the release of Liao Xiaohong. However, all the departments lied to her or deliberately delayed in replying.

On the morning of October 14th, Ms. Shi Jiaoyu again went to the Domestic Security Division, but was arrested. The policemen said: "We planned to arrest you as well because you are involved in the same case as Liao Xiaohong. You will be sent to trial together."

In the past ten years, the Beihu District Court has held many trials for the purpose of sentencing Chenzhou practitioners to imprisonment. As the trial did not have any foundation in justice, the judge disappeared in the latter part, while the public prosecutor started talking illogically. The lawyer hired by Liao Xiaohong's father claimed that the couple was not guilty and thus should not be punished, especially as they needed to fulfil the duty of raising a young child.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/10/29/211325.html