(Minghui.org) Six Falun Gong practitioners and one practitioner’s husband in Xichang City, Sichuan Province are facing trial after they were indicted in February 2020.
Falun Gong is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 20, 1999.
The Xichang City Procuratorate returned the seven people’s cases twice to the police due to insufficient evidence, before being pressured by the police to indict them and forward their cases to Xichang City Court. None of the seven people’s lawyers were informed of the indictment.
Mr. Huang Biao, Ms. Zhou Xianrong, her husband Mr. Pan (who does not practice Falun Gong), Ms. Xu Shaoqiong, Ms. Luo Mingchun, Ms. Yu Hongying, and Ms. Zhao Jun, were targeted in July and August 2019.
The police first ransacked the home of Mr. Huang, 68, on the afternoon of July 14, 2019. His tens of thousands yuan in cash were confiscated. Because Mr. Huang is the main caregiver to his bedridden wife, the police didn’t arrest him.
Ms. Xu, however, was arrested when she happened to be visiting Mr. Huang while the police were still ransacking his place. Her home was later ransacked by officers from the Xincun Police Station.
At about 1 a.m. on July 15, 2019, a dozen police officers ransacked Ms. Zhou’s apartment before arresting her, her husband, and their daughter. Her daughter was released the next morning at 11 a.m. That evening, the police took Ms. Zhou to her other residence and confiscated her cash.
Ms. Yu was arrested on July 19, 2019 by officers from the Xichang Police Department. The police claimed that they spotted Ms. Yu distributing Falun Gong materials on the streets through surveillance cameras. Her home was ransacked.
Ms. Zhao was arrested at home on July 23, 2019, after the police saw her getting some change several times at a bus terminal through surveillance cameras. Her mother's home was also ransacked the next day (she was staying at her mother's home to care for her elderly mother and her younger brother, who has a mental disorder). Ms. Zhao was first detained at Xiaomiaozhou Detention Center before being released.
Ms. Luo was last arrested on August 12, 2019. Five plainclothes police officers from the Xichang Police Department and Hedong Police Station ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and related materials.
Ms. Zhou and Ms. Yu are currently held at Xiaomiaozhou Detention Center, while Ms. Luo and Ms. Xu are detained at Xichang Detention Center. It’s not clear where Mr. Pan is currently held.
Related report:Sixty-four Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Weeks in Sichuan Province
