(Minghui.org) Fifteen Changsha City, Hunan Province residents are facing trial by the Liuyang Court for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
A person familiar with the case revealed to some practitioners’ families that the court hearing is only a formality and some of their prison terms have already been determined by the local Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extrajudicial agency tasked with overseeing the persecution.
The 15 practitioners were arrested on October 27 during a police sweep of 21 locals. Among them, Mr. Li Zhigang was put under house arrest at a secret location, where he was tortured and incurred multiple injuries. Not until February 5, 2021, did his mother receive his arrest warrant and find out that he has been transferred to the Changsha City No. 2 Detention Center.
For seeking her release and urging the police not to persecute her mother, Ms. Xu Lihua’s daughter was arrested herself and detained for seven days. The detention center refused to release 66-year-old Ms. Xu on bail even though she was experiencing high blood pressure. The police harassed and intimidated her family from time to time.
The authorities approved the practitioners’ arrests on December 5, 2020. The Liuyang Procuratorate returned the practitioners’ cases to the police between March and April 2021, citing insufficient evidence.
A practitioner’s family member was notified by the police in late April 2021 that they would submit their cases again. The police claimed that the cases would be submitted to the Wangcheng Procuratorate. But when the practitioner’s family went to the Wangcheng Procuratorate to inquire about their cases, they were told that the procuratorate never received the practitioners’ cases. The anxious family then rushed to the Changsha City Procuratorate and found that the cases have been submitted again to the Liuyang Procuratorate on April 27.
The practitioner’s family recently found out that although their cases were submitted to the Liuyang Procuratorate, it’s a prosecutor from Wangcheng Procuratorate who is handling it. The prosecutor is planning to indict the practitioners and forward their cases to the Liuyang Court in June.
Related reports:
Changsha, Hunan Province: 15 Face Trial, a 16th Has Been Imprisoned, All for Their Shared Faith
Former Ph.D. Candidate Li Zhigang Arrested for the 5th Time for His Faith
Hunan Police Refuse to Meet with Falun Gong Practitioners’ Lawyers
Updates on Falun Gong Practitioners Targeted in Changsha City, Hunan Province Group Arrest
13 Hunan Residents Detained Incommunicado for Two Months and Counting
Changsha City, Hunan Province: Fourteen Arrested and One Harassed for Their Faith
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