(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Wu Mei, Mr. Hu Dongsheng, Ms. Sun Zuying and Ms. Liu Jinzhi, from the Jiangxia District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, were put on trial on December 12, 2013, six months after they were arrested and held in detention. There has been no verdict given.

The four practitioners were arrested on June 1, 2013, when they were distributing truth clarification materials about Falun Gong. Their family members were beaten and detained while asking for their release.

When the practitioners' attorneys entered the courthouse they were demanded to undergo security checks, which is in violation of regulations by the China's Supreme Court. It states that defendants' attorneys could enter the courthouse without undergoing a security check. Family members of the defendants were able to convince the court guards to let them enter freely, but their appearance in the court debate was delayed.

The trial was held in secret. Only one family member of each defendant was allowed to enter the courthouse. Family members were even forbidden to wait outside the courthouse, with the area being controlled by a police contingent.

Family Members Abused and Beaten

The family tried to have the practitioners released but officials from a number of agencies, including the Jiangxia District Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC), the 610 Office, the Domestic Security Division and the Shanpo Police Station refused to listen, but gave the families the runaround and harassed them.

Ms. Sun Zuying's elder sister, Ms. Sun Yougui, and Ms. Wu Mei's daughter and nephew went to the the 610 Office on June 27, 2013, to ask for their release. Instead Yi Chujun, chief, called more than 20 officers and had them taken to the basement of the Zhifang Police Station. They were locked there without food and water, with it being a very hot summer day.

Ms. Wu Mei's sister-in-law, Ms. Zhang Jing'e, wanted to bring the detained family members water. For insisting to have the water delivered to them, more than 10 officers pushed her to the ground and beat her while dragging her to the basement. Her outcry for help attracted many onlookers, but the police did not stop beating her. She was later taken to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with a rib fracture. It punctured her lung and she needed an operation.

Details of Practitioners

Mr. Hu Dongsheng, a retired soldier, is a farmer and tractor driver. After he began practicing Falun Gong in 1999 he changed from a notorious troublemaker and gambler to an individual welcomed by his family and neighbors.

Ms. Liu Jinzhi suffered from an illness of the brain since middle school and no treatment was successful. After she began to practice Falun Gong she turned around for the better and even got a university education. After graduation, she was employed by the City Construction and Design Department of Jiangxia District.

Learning about the arrests of the four practitioners, the local residents had signed or put their fingerprints on a petition calling for their release.

The current whereabouts of the practitioners are not known.

Parties involved in the persecution:

Jiangxia District Court, Wuhan, Hebei Province
Yake Yang, chief: +86-27-81829052(Office), +86-27-81817097 (Home), +86-13397156888 (Mobile);
Zhang Jikuan, deputy chief: +86-27-81811067(Office), +86-27-81815146(Home), +86-13986152996 (Mobile);
Xiong Shihua, deputy chief: +86-27-81811138(Office), +86-27-81811022 (Home), +86-13607160992(Mobile)