(Minghui.org) A Baoding City, Hebei Province, resident is scheduled to stand trial on October 31, 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Li Sumei was arrested on the evening of September 26, 2022 while working as an aide caring for an incapacitated elderly person. She has since been held at the Qingyuan Detention Center. Due to tremendous mental pressure, she experienced high blood pressure and also had a relapse of her heart condition and severe depression. Her conditions persisted even after she took the medicines provided by the detention center.
Her family submitted an urgent request to the detention center to release her for medical treatment, but to no avail. Her lawyer also turned in his legal opinion, demanding that the case be dismissed. But the Jingxiu District Procuratorate still approved her arrest and transferred her case to the Gaoyang County Procuratorate. She was later indicted and had her case moved to the Gaoyang County Court. Judge Li Zhiyong (no relation to Ms. Li) also denied her family’s requests to release her on bail for medical attention, with the excuse that she didn’t have a doctor’s note to verify her conditions.
The Gaoyang County Court held the first hearing of Ms. Li’s case in the detention center on August 18, but the session was soon adjourned due to an equipment malfunction. Ms. Li appeared to be very weak and had difficulty talking during the session.
During the second hearing on September 6, judge Li had an ambulance on standby, in case Ms. Li suffered a medical emergency. Ms. Li’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. He said that the prosecutor failed to provide evidence to show how Ms. Li had allegedly caused any damage to any individual, or society at large. He said that her practicing Falun Gong is her freedom of belief and is protected by the Constitution. She also hadn’t violated any law by having Falun Gong books or doing the exercises to keep fit.
Ms. Li is now scheduled to face the judge for a third time on October 31, still in the makeshift courtroom in the detention center.
Related reports:
Hebei Woman Develops Medical Conditions While Detained for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Baoding City, Hebei Province: Nine Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day
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