(Minghui.org) Three residents of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, were forced to attend yet another virtual hearing on April 29, 2026, for their faith in Falun Gong. Falun Gong is a traditional mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Liu Shuzhen, around 70, Mr. Shi Zuosheng, in his 70s, and his wife Ms. Chen Xiumei, 54, were arrested during a police sweep of local practitioners on August 21, 2025. A fourth practitioner, Ms. Li Hongmei, 65, who was arrested at the same time, appeared in the first two hearings with them.
The first hearing, on March 30, 2026, was in-person at the Acheng District Court. The second hearing was virtual on April 13, 2026, despite objections from the four practitioners and their lawyers. By law, a judge cannot hold a virtual hearing without the consent of the defendant.
The third hearing, on April 29, 2026, was again virtual despite the practitioners’ objections. The four practitioners were handcuffed and taken to the interrogation room at the detention center. Ms. Li protested the virtual hearing because it would not allow her to fully testify in her own defense as would be possible in an in-person session. The guards did not press her, but told judge Wang Weichen that Ms. Li refused to attend the virtual hearing because she believed she’d broken no law.
It is unclear whether judge Wang will schedule an in-person hearing just for Ms. Li’s case. He went on to try the other three practitioners, abruptly ending the hearing before they and their non-lawyer family defenders had a chance to testify in their own defense or present the defense statements. Judge Wang previously sentenced several other local practitioners after such virtual hearings, and even dared them to sue him.
The virtual hearing on April 29, 2026, began at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 11:30 a.m. Due to the poor quality of the remote session, the defense lawyers could not see their clients clearly from the screens in the courthouse. They reported that the closest screen was over two yards away, and the farthest over five yards away. Each screen was about the size of a small TV set.
Mr. Shi, Ms. Chen, and Ms. Liu each had a microphone in front of them, but the detention center guards did not adjust the distance or manage the volume well. The lawyers could not hear the practitioners clearly, especially Mr. Shi, whose microphone was the farthest from him. They could only guess what the practitioners were saying.
Towards the second half of the hearing, two detention center guards started chatting. Those in the courtroom heard echos of their conversation and struggled even more to hear the practitioners.
The practitioners also seemed to have sound issues, as they either gave no response or appeared baffled when their lawyers asked them questions. Ms. Chen, who lost all hearing in her left ear and partial hearing in her right ear due to beating during a previous detention for practicing Falun Gong, did not say a word throughout the hearing. She likely did not hear anything her lawyer was saying.
Judge Wang, however, claimed that he heard all the practitioners clearly. He suddenly ended the hearing before Mr. Shi’s non-lawyer defender presented his defense statement. None of the three practitioners were given a chance to testify in their own defense.
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