(Minghui.org) A Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province resident stood trial on June 10, 2022 for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. His lawyer wasn’t informed of the court hearing. While testifying in his own defense, he was frequently interrupted by the judge.

Mr. Sun Wenzhong was arrested at home on the afternoon of January 8, 2022. His arrest came hours after that of two other local Falun Gong practitioners earlier that day, including his roommate, Mr. Sun Deguo, and Mr. Dai Zhidong.

Without showing their IDs or a search warrant, the police broke into Mr. Sun Wenzhong and Mr. Sun Deguo’s rental apartment and confiscated their Falun Gong books, debit cards, some cash, and computers. The police drank twelve cans of coconut water without asking and also took away Mr. Sun Deguo’s twelve pairs of gloves that he had bought for loading goods at work.

A fourth practitioner, Mr. Zhang Liguo, who also shared the apartment with Mr. Sun Wenzhong and Mr. Sun Deguo, was also arrested.

While Mr. Dai, Mr. Sun Deguo, and Mr. Zhang were later released on bail after paying a 10,000 yuan fine, Mr. Sun Wenzhong was held at the Taikang Detention Center, on charges of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used by the communist regime to frame Falun Gong practitioners.

The arrest and financial extortion dealt a heavy blow to Mr. Dai, who was still mourning the death of his wife due to the persecution. His health quickly deteriorated upon returning home and he passed away a month later, on February 11. He was 60 years old.

When Mr. Sun Wenzhong’s family went to the Lindian County Police Department to inquire about his case, officer Wei Fang shouted at them, “If you keep talking about the law with me, I’ll arrest you all!”

Mr. Sun Wenzhong was later transferred to the Daqing City No. 2 Detention Center and indicted by the Ranghulu District Procuratorate.

The Ranghulu District Court didn’t inform his lawyer or family of the hearing on June 10. Mr. Sun acted as his own lawyer and entered a not-guilty plea. Judge Zhang Xinle frequently interrupted him and adjourned the session in less than 30 minutes.

Mr. Sun’s lawyer visited him on June 16.

The judge fell ill and was hospitalized shortly after the hearing. According to insiders, some of his colleagues believed this was karmic retribution for his involvement in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

Perpetrators’ contact information:Zhang Xinle (张欣乐), presiding judge of Ranghulu District Court: +86-13359596629, +86-459-6585010Liu Zhenkui (刘振魁), president of Ranghulu District Procuratorate: +86-459-5974999, +86-13359590901Bai Jingquan (白景权), president of Ranghulu District Court: +86-459-5509009