(Minghui.org) Five residents from Lanzhou City have been held captive since their arrest last September for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.
The local procuratorate approved the practitioners' arrest last October and submitted the case to Chengguan District Court about two months later. However, no trial ever took place, nor did the practitioners get released. The past eight months have seen their families agonizing over their fates.
Most recently, the families learned on May 12 that the court had returned the case to the procuratorate, which acknowledged the fact but directed the families to the police department instead.
The police responded that they had never received a notice from the procuratorate to pick up the case document. The families were sent back to the procuratorate, which insisted the case now rests with the police department. As the two agencies shifted responsibility back and forth, the families were left in limbo.
It is not clear when the two agencies will give the families a firm answer regarding the next step in their loved ones' prosecution.
Except for Ms. Tu Yuchun who is suffering from health problems, the other four practitioners are forced to do hard labor in Lanzhou City First Detention Center. Anyone who fails to finish the quota--to sew three car seat cushions per day--is ordered to stay on duty at night without sleep.
Despite the long work days, the practitioners are only given a meager amount of food. Sometimes the guards even cancel the lunch break in an attempt to squeeze in more hours of work.
According to insiders, Ms. Tu Yuchun developed health problems soon after she was admitted to the detention center. She was diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, and an irregular heartbeat. She also has a tumor on her back.
Ms. Jiao Lili's mother was so worried about her daughter that she had to take sleeping pills to get through each night. She accidentally overdosed this March and was rushed to the hospital.
Ms. Wang Yurong's poor vision prevents her from seeing clearly to sew the car seat cushions. Glasses don't help much, and she is often ordered to stand for entire nights for failing to finish her quota.
Mr. Meng Yurong's five-year-old daughter became withdrawn after his arrest and often cries at home. His father-in-law passed away this April, saddening his wife even more with her husband still in detention.
Ms. Du Shuzhen has trouble chewing food with her loose teeth and is now emaciated. Her family sent in instant noodles for her, but the detention center rationed the use of hot water. As a result, Ms. Du couldn't even eat these noodles, which are easier on the teeth.
Related Reports:Five Practitioners from Lanzhou City Face TrialDomestic Security Division Carries Out Latest Arrests of Falun Gong Practitioners in Lanzhou
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