(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Cui Lili, from Shandong Province, was arrested on September 17, 2015 while she and her son visited her husband at a detention center. She has been illegally detained since. On April 27, 2016, the Laizhou City Court, urged by the local 610 Office, put Ms. Cui on trial. The verdict has not been announced.
Many people arrived at the courthouse early to witness the trial, scheduled for 11 a.m. on April 27, 2016. A number of Ms. Cui's supporters were stopped from entering. Only her son and one of her older brothers were allowed inside. Her husband was also stopped because he was a Falun Gong practitioner and still on bail.
During the trial, Ms. Cui's attorney refuted the prosecutor's accusation and insisted that Ms. Cui was not guilty of wrongdoing for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief. He emphasized that the Falun Gong materials she had with her are her lawful possessions and cause no harm to anyone in society. He finally requested that Ms. Cui be released immediately, as there has never been any law criminalizing Falun Gong.
Ms. Cui also gave her own testimony. She revealed that she had been threatened with tear gas during a marathon 7-day interrogation at Dianzi Brainwashing Center. She said that under severe pressure and threats, she was in extreme fear and felt isolated and helpless. Thus, she could not help but say some things against her will. She demanded that her earlier statements be thrown out.
This sham trial ended at around 1:30 p.m. and no verdict was announced. Meanwhile, Ms. Cui remains in custody.
On September 15, 2015, police officers broke into Ms. Cui's home when she was away. The officers took away many items including a television set, a desktop computer, a laptop, printers, Falun Gong materials, and 8,000 yuan in cash. They also arrested her husband Mr. Chu Zhenxin, and then transferred him to the Laizhou Detention Center 14 days later on September 29, without showing the family any legal documents.
Ms. Cui was illegally arrested on September 17 when she and her son visited her husband in jail. She was first held at Dianzi Brainwashing Center for seven days, where she was subjected to a 7-day interrogation session. She was later transferred to Yantai Detention Center, where she has been detained since.
Ms. Cui led a difficult life as a child and young adult. She was deeply hurt by her parents' divorce. At the age of 19, her mother remarried and she moved in with her mentally unbalanced stepfather, who frequently bullied her and caused her severe psychological harm. She became very irritable and bad tempered.
Ms. Cui's husband is a kind, hard-working farmer. He started to practice Falun Gong in 1996, after which the aftereffects of a bout with meningitis during his childhood disappeared.
Witnessing the power of Falun Gong, Ms. Cui also started the practice. Two weeks later, the tumor on her right shoulder was miraculously gone. This made her more firmly believe in Falun Gong. She started conducting herself according to the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Her hot temper got better. Ms. Cui became healthy, open-minded, and considerate. Her whole family became more harmonious.