(Minghui.org) A Qiqihar City resident was tried on October 9 on charges of “using a cult to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used by the Chinese communist regime to imprison Falun Gong practitioners in its campaign to eradicate the spiritual practice.
The trial of Ms. Qu Shurong came after Longsha District Procuratorate returned her case to Wulong Police Station four times, citing insufficient evidence.
Ms. Qu’s lawyers argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that she should never have been prosecuted for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
The lawyers further questioned the prosecution witness, an officer who participated in the interrogation of Ms. Qu. Under cross-examination, the officer admitted that the police had no search warrant while raiding Ms. Qu’s house and that they extracted confessions from her under torture.
The presiding judge approved the defense lawyers’ motion to suppress the prosecution evidence, concluding that it was collected illegally and was thus inadmissible. He adjourned the session without issuing a verdict.
Ms. Qu’s family learned recently that the court had decided to dismiss the case, but it left the decision regarding Ms. Qu’s release to Wulong Police Station. The police, nonetheless, refused to set her free, claiming the decision rested on the court and the procuratorate.
Ms. Qu remains detained following her arrest on November 8, 2015.
Only Ms. Qu’s husband and daughter were allowed inside the gallery, which was filled with 34 agents from various departments.
Ms. Qu’s other relatives, many of whom had traveled hundreds of miles to attend the trial, were blocked outside.
Some local Falun Gong practitioners who came to show support were questioned and driven away by police. One officer threatened them, “You'd better leave now! We’ve got more officers on the way!”
Ms. Qu was emaciated and had a full head of gray hair when she was brought into the courtroom. Her daughter burst into tears–her mother had dark hair and a rosy complexion before her arrest.
Ms. Qu testified how she was abused in police custody.
“I was arrested after two middle-school students reported me to the police for picking up table calendars that they tore up and tossed to the ground. Only moments before, another Falun Gong practitioner whom I didn’t know gave the kids those calendars that had information about Falun Gong.
“The police began beating me in their cruiser. As soon as we arrived at the police station, they took me down to their interrogation chamber in the basement. I was restrained to a chair with my hands cuffed behind my back and my legs tied up.
“I told the police my home address as requested, but they accused me of lying. They kept slapping my face.
“Officer Xia Yingjie said, ‘If you don’t cooperate with us, we’ll knock your teeth out!' But they still wouldn’t believe me when I said I picked the calendars up from the ground.
“Police chief Ju Xingming ordered his officers, ‘Give her a good beating in the bathroom. There's no surveillance camera there.’
“Four officers picked me up high in the air before dropping me to the ground. They next put a helmet on my head and began banging on it hard. I felt dizzy, and my head hurt badly.”
Ms. Qu hired two lawyers, Mr. Yu Wensheng from Beijing and Mr. Hu Linzheng from Hunan Province. The presiding judge, Sun Xiaoguang, agreed to summon the prosecution witness, officer Yin Qicai, for cross-examination.
Mr. Hu asked if the police had a search warrant when they raided Ms. Qu’s home. Yin said no.
Mr. Hu further asked why the police kept Ms. Qu detained without a formal arrest warrant for months after she was taken into custody. Yin did not answer. Mr. Hu pointed out that, by law, Ms. Qu should have been released when a formal arrest wasn’t issued within weeks of her arrest.
Yin said nothing when the judge asked why he and his fellow officers kept beating Ms. Qu even after she complied with their demand to disclose her home address and source of the calendars.
Prosecutor Du Yanhong interjected, “But she was found to be healthy during the detention center admission process!”
Ms. Qu knew Du was trying to deny that the police had tortured her. She told the judge, “I had bruises on my face and blood stains on my hands and neck when I was sent to the detention center three days after my arrest. My insides hurt. The detention center doctor said I had heart problems and high blood pressure during the medical exam.”
The judge agreed that Ms. Qu had enough evidence to support her torture claim.
Midway through the trial, the two lawyers filed an urgent request to suppress the prosecution evidence. The judge, having heard from Ms. Qu, officer Yin, and the lawyers, agreed.
Prosecutor Du countered, “The police interrogated Qu a total of three times. They did torture her the first two times, but not the third time. How come she still gave those confessions that her lawyers are now trying to dismiss?”
One lawyer replied, “She probably still feared further torture if she didn’t comply.”
Du then claimed there was additional evidence against Ms. Qu, but she failed to produce any eyewitness or physical evidence.
As the lawyers were able to refute every piece of the prosecution evidence, the judge asked Ms. Qu if she had anything else to say. She reiterated that she broke no law and caused no harm to anyone by trying to follow Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.