Account of a Trial Moved from a Courthouse to a Detention Centre, Then Postponed

In Sichuan Province a Gulin Court lawsuit was scheduled to be tried in Luzhou's Naxi Courthouse on July 12th, but at noon on July 11th, the location of the trail was suddenly changed to the Naxi Detention Centre. What type of lawsuit would prompt a relocation to another city, at the last possible moment, and, inexplicably, from a public courtroom to a detention centre where few could attend?

1. Authorities Fear Citizens' Understanding the Truth about Falun Gong

Mr. Shu Anqing, the defendant, around 40 years old, graduated from the Chengdu University of Science and Technology. He previously worked for the Luzhou Electric Utility Bureau. Mr. Shu is a Falun Dafa practitioner. Due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong, his employer pressured him into giving up the practice by threatening to fire him. Mr. Shu held to his freedom of belief and refused to yield to the authorities, so he lost his job, along wit his employer-provided housing. To explain the facts about Falun Gong to the state government, he went to Beijing to lodge his petition, but was then sent to a forced labour camp around 2001. After his release, Mr. Su made a living for his family by repairing electronic appliances. However, the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) in the Jiang Yang District of Luzhou monitored and harassed him for a long period of time, rendering him unable to do his job or lead a normal life. Subjected to this pressure, he had no other recourse but to leave his elderly mother and young child to live far from home.

Mr. Luo Zhenggui, 77, is a retired government employee from Shibao Town, Gulin County, Sichuan Province. Only a month or two after he began practising Falun Gong, he was cured of a terminal illness. Enduring over 30 years of suffering, he miraculously recovered and regained his health. However, two to three months after he began practising, the persecution began. Despite the pressure, Mr. Luo chose to continue practicing Falun Gong. He was subjected to repeated abuse and harassment by the CCP for several years, including three terms of incarceration and brainwashing sessions in a detention centre. In 2004, he was sentenced by the Gulin Court to three years and six months of imprisonment and severely abused Guangyuan Prison in Sichuan.

Ms. Zhang Ziqin, 57, Mr. Luo's wife, was also persecuted by local CCP authorities and 610 Office agents due to her steadfast belief in Falun Gong. She was monitored, harassed, detained several times, and finally sentenced to a four-year prison term. In prison, she was subjected to multiple torture sessions, including a “shame parade,” being hung up, handcuffed, beaten, bound with rope, tortured on a tiger bench, force feeding, forced injection of unknown drugs, stomped on, and dragged. She was injured and on the verge of death. Following her release from this hellish prison, the local authorities, CCP cohorts and 610 Office agents still did not leave her alone, which forced her and her husband to leave their residence and become homeless.

On the night of November 10th, 2011, Ms. Zhang Ziqin, Mr. Luo Zhenggui, and Mr. Shu Anqing were arrested in Yutang Town in the Longmatang District of Luzhou and were then held in the Gulin Detention Centre. During their eight months of detention, they were transferred to the Naxi Detention Centre in Luzhou.

The Chinese regime exhibits a brazen disregard for the law and human rights. During the 2011 trial, two lawyers defended the practitioners with pleas of not guilty. The authorities were so intimidated by the defence that they decided to conduct the 2012 trial in another city. Later, they changed the location again to a detention centre with the intent of covering up their acts.

2. Authorities Fear Open Court Session Attended by Many Outraged Citizens

In July 2011, Mr. Luo Zhenggui and Ms. Zhang Ziqin made public their persecution experiences and lodged a lawsuit against the participating governmental department. Mr. Luo and Ms. Zhang's account of their horrifying experiences irritated the the CCP's agents, who then set a trap for them. The CCP officials in Shibao, Gulin, passed a message to Mr. Luo via his daughter, asking that he and Ms. Zhang return home. They indicated that if they signed an agreement to give up practising Falun Gong, his salary would be re-instated and Ms. Zhang would be allowed freedom through parole. Shortly after making these promises, the Gulin government, public security bureau, and 610 Office conspired to arrest Mr. Luo and Ms. Zhang after they discovered that the couple was in Luzhou.

The facts about the persecution suffered by Ms. Zhang and Mr. Luo are now well-known in Gulin prefecture. Many people who learned the truth are angry about it. An open trial in Gulin would therefore allow many people concerned about the persecution to come from surrounding areas to attend. They were likely to have intimidated the CCP's Political and Legal Committee in Gulin, controlled by the Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] faction and the 610 Office, so the authorities thought that relocating the trial would avoid public condemnation and denouncements by those aware of the situation.

Mr. Shu Anqing is a person of good reputation. He not only has excellent skills in appliance repair and a responsible service, but also charges reasonably. His happy customers referred new customers to him. When Mr. Shu was arrested and detained for as long as eight months, his family lost their source of income. His wife was grief-stricken, and his son missed his father day and night. People who knew of their situation were sympathetic. When a citizen in Gulin received a notice about the trial and learned about the persecution of Mr. Shu, he was prepared to donate some of his savings to the family to help pay for Mr. Shu's son's tuition. However, when he arrived at the Naxi Courthouse and found that the session had been relocated to an undisclosed location, he returned home disappointed.

The authorities thought that they would avoid a lot of spectators at the trial by moving it to another city in a relatively unaccessible detention centre. However, over 200 people showed up—despite a downpour. Over 20 of them were Mr. Shu's relatives and friends. Due to so many outraged citizens in attendance, the Gulin Court canceled the trial, claiming there were “too many auditors.”

3. Righteous Voices Send Shockwaves

On the morning of July 12th, citizens who'd received the trial notice started to arrive at the Naxi Detention Centre. Some didn't know the change of address beforehand, so they went to Naxi Courthouse first and were then redirected to the detention centre. Ms. Zhang's elderly mother and her relatives were also detoured from the courthouse.

At approximately 9:00 a.m., judge Yang (female) from Gulin Court was in discussion with the two defendants' lawyers from Beijing. Yang said the new trial location was too small, so only three people from each family would be admitted to audit the trial. Some people argued that the detention centre was not a court, so conducting a trial there was illegal. Relatives and friends were unhappy with her decision. Some said, “Why are only three family members allowed in? Is this an illegal trial?” Later, judge Yang announced that 15 people would be allowed from each family. The citizens then asked that 30 be allowed from each family, since so many were already present. The lawyers also said that fewer police officers should be allowed inside, allowing for more citizens to attend. Some suggested using a bigger meeting hall for the trial, while others requested an open platform outside the entrance hall, where people could stand to audit the trial.

Other citizens complained to judge Yang that the defendants hadn't committed any crimes, that they were good people and should be released. The judge replied, “I do not have the authority to do that. If I did, I wouldn't have been named the judge on this case. Who would want this job? Do you think that I wanted to come to this isolated place?”

Judge Yang went through the large metal prison gate. The lawyers and nearly 100 citizens waited outside in the downpour. The mothers of Mr. Shu and Ms. Zhang, in their 70s or 80s, also waited anxiously in the rain.

Two hours later, there was still no sign that the trial would begin. The lawyers called the governmental departments involved to find out what was going on. Mr. Shu's mother was upset and asked if the authorities had secretly begun the trial, and none of her relatives had been admitted yet. If that was the case, the trial would then not be admissible. She said, “At first, the trial was going to be held in the courthouse, then it was changed to the detention centre. It was scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m., but it's now 11:00 a.m., and there's still no sign of anything getting started.” Mr. Shu's mother told the armed police, “Falun Gong is good! There is nothing wrong with Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance! My son is a good person!”

After 11:00 a.m., the people waiting still didn't know what was going on. The Falun Gong practitioners present started to chant loudly, “Falun Gong is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” Their voices resounded, sending a shockwave through the site. Practitioners on the other side of the river also showed their support by raising their voices. The sound from both sides of the river converged and reverberated.

4. Kindly Persuading the Persecutors to Stop

While waiting for the trial to begin, a squad of armed police arrived and guarded the entrance. A full load of court personnel remained inside their bus. Security agents from the Naxi 610 Office led by Deng Song and Zhang Hua, two veteran national security members, began taking photos and video recordings of the people that had come to attend the trial, a practice that is not legal. Plainclothes security agents mingled in the crowd (some came from the Jiang Yang District). Others used tablet PC's or smartphones to take photos or video recordings. Some officials made voice recordings while pretending to make phone calls. Court personnel inside the bus also took photos and recordings. Zhang Hua took close-range video recordings and sometimes turned people to face him.

The large group of people present opposed the illegal photography and video recording. They shouted, “Stop photographing and videotaping! It is an infringement of our human rights.” The lawyer also stepped forward to stop someone from taking photographs, but the person said that he would continue doing it. The lawyer then raised his camera and said, “Then I will also take a photo of you.” The person then left in fear. When others who were there to support the authorities noticed that they were also being photographed, they were terrified and said, “I didn't take any photos of you, why are you taking mine?”

Zhang Hua did not care those under his direction were doing things that were illegal. In order to stop him, some people called out his name, “That is Zhang Hua!” One person patted Zhang Hua's shoulder and kindly asked him to stop taking photos, since it violated human rights. Another approached him and said, “I see your crippled leg and was told that it this was your retribution for persecuting Falun Gong. Please do not persecute Falun Gong anymore. Saying 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good' and 'Falun Gong is good' will bring you true benefits. Please give it a try.” A nearby officer heard this compassionate persuasion and couldn't help giving a beautiful smile.

Deng Song is a central figure in persecuting Falun Gong in the Naxi District's 610 Office. He is directly involved in placing practitioners in detention centres, prisons, or forced labour camps, and has already accumulated great amounts of retribution as a result. When practitioners saw Deng Song, they still tried to persuade him with compassion, saying, “Do you know that Falun Gong practitioners are good people? They haven't done anything wrong.”

A young man hid behind a pillar taking photos. Practitioners asked him to stop, because it was illegal and would also bring him bad things. The young man acknowledged by nodding his head and putting his hands together in respect to the Falun Gong practitioners.

The moment judge Yang arrived, practitioners told her, “We hope that you handle this case regarding innocent people properly. There are no laws whatsoever that say that Falun Gong is illegal. We hope that you'll try this case legally and correctly, so that these good people will be treated fairly and there won't be any false convictions. If Falun Gong practitioners are treated unfairly, you will be held responsible once the persecution is over.”

Practitioners compassionately clarified the truth to everyone who came to support the authorities and encouraged them to stop supporting them. They explained that, although the practitioners on trial were all good people, they were being terribly persecuted. The arrest of Mr. Shu Anqing left his 10-year-old son and 70-year-old mother without any means of support. Practitioners asked them to consider themselves in a similar position. Mr. Shu's mother told her grandson to tell the CCP supporters that his father was a good person and hadn't committed a crime, and that he missed him. In tears, the boy did as he was told, and people nearby were also moved to tears. One person gave him some money, asking him to use it for his school tuition.

Officers armed with handguns and electric shock batons stood beside the large metal gate. A bus loaded with additional officers was parked on the street outside the detention centre. The agents taking photos and making recordings terrorised and intimidated those present. However, the practitioners onsite, including some elderly ladies in their 70s and 80s, remained calm, showing no fear. Some of them told the officers, “You stand here, but ,in fact, you're among those being persecuted. Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun have fallen, yet you're still forced to participate in the persecution.” Just then, a person with a camera got out of the bus. In order to persuade him not to commit the wrongdoing of taking photos of innocent people, practitioners explained the principle of retribution and asked him to do only good deeds. After listening, he moved his camera to his back and didn't take any more photos.

5. Epilogue

At approximately noon, judge Yang told the lawyers that she would adjourn and postpone the trial for three days, because “too many people” had come to attend. The lawyers reminded her that she first set the location in the courthouse, but later changed to the detention centre. The day before, they repeatedly asked that she coordinate the proceedings carefully and were told that that had been done. They had arrived on time according the written agreement and requested reimbursement for their flights when the trial was canceled. Judge Yang responded that they would not be reimbursed.

Many present asked judge Yang why the trial was not held. Judge Yang answered, “Too many people have come and this would create a negative impact on the government.” They were puzzled, wondering aloud, “Are you afraid of too many good people attending? A negative impact on what? You planned to try Falun Gong practitioners, so many people came to find out what crimes they committed in order to understand the facts about the case. Why is this a bad thing?” Judge Yang was speechless. A dozen police officers got out of the bus and escorted the judge away. The officers told her to provide no further explanation to the masses.

The judge left and the trial was canceled. The large group of citizens had wasted half a day waiting in vain for it to begin. Close to noon, the detention centre director used a megaphone to announce that the chief judge had left, the trial was canceled, and for everyone to go home. Some people said that they shouldn't have been forced to wait for so long in the heavy rain, and that it was a farce to cancel a trial so abruptly. A relative of Mr. Shu said in tears, “The authorities don't honour their commitments. Where is the justice and fairness?”

Ms. Zhang's elderly mother understood that the authorities were afraid of conducting an open session. She said, “They were afraid, because they are wrong.” Some people told the detention centre director, “If you don't dare to have an open trial, then this indicates that the defendants are innocent and you should release them. We will take them back with us today.”

The director replied that trails had nothing to do with the detention centre, nor should they be held in the detention centre. He therefore decided not to agree to hold any more trials in the detention centre. Another reason for the aborted trial was later uncovered: the detention centre actually hadn't agreed to allow a trial to be held there. Regarding this refusal, the lawyers said that this was a victory in this lawsuit.