(Minghui.org) The family of a Wuhan City, Hubei Province resident is continuing their legal efforts to seek justice for her, after she was indicted by Wu Songen, the prosecutor of the Hanyang District Procuratorate, for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhou Xiuhua, 72, was arrested on July 15, 2020 by Ruan Hao and other officers from the Dongxihu District Police Station. The police ransacked her home and later released her on bail.
The police submitted her case to the Dongxihu District Procuratorate on December 15, 2020. Two months later, she was taken back into custody. The prosecutor transferred her case to the Hanyang District Procuratorate, which has been designated to handle Falun Gong cases.
Wu Songen of the Hanyang District Procuratorate indicted Ms. Zhou in June 2021 and moved her case to the Hanyang District Court. Her family went to the court several times to inquire about her case, but no one ever received them or followed up with them.
After Ms. Zhou was arrested, her family bought law books and studied them. They found that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China, and that practicing Falun Gong is a constitutionally-protected right. On the other hand, it was the police who broke the law in ransacking her home without a warrant and giving them a confiscation list without a signature.
Ms. Zhou’s family mailed complaints against prosecutor Wu in July 2021, suing him for ignoring the police departent’s violation of legal procedure in handling Ms. Zhou’s case. They also accused the prosecutor of abusing his power in indicting Ms. Zhou, despite the lack of legal basis for the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhou’s family filed another request on August 10, 2021 with the Hanyang District Procuratorate and the Hanyang District Court, to recuse prosecutor Wu from her case.
A week later, they requested that the court reject the indictment and investigate the violation of legal procedure by prosecutor Wu and police officer Ruan.
Ms. Zhou’s family made two more requests, on August 24 and September 2, to the Hanyang District Procuratorate, to remove prosecutor Wu from his position. The complaints were also mailed to various agencies, including the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Hubei Province Procuratorate, the Wuhan City Procuratorate, the Wuhan City Court, the Hanyang District Court, as well as the Wuhan and Hanyang District Municipal Standing Committees and the Hanyang District Justice Bureau.
At the same time, Ms. Zhou’s family made frequent phone calls to the Hanyang District Court to inquire about her case. They were recently told that her case was transferred to the Wuhan City Intermediate Court in early September.
Related reports:
Hubei Woman’s Family Sues Prosecutor for Wrongful Indictment
Five Hubei Residents Face Prosecution for Their Faith
Woman in Her 70s Detained for Two Weeks and Counting, Faces Prosecution for Her Faith
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