(Minghui.org) The illegal trial of thirteen Falun Gong practitioners on March 18, 2014 was postponed after Ms. Fu Hui (付辉), one of the defendants, lost consciousness during the court session. Ms. Zhao Shuyun (赵淑云), in her sixties, was released before the court session because she had a mental collapse as a result of torture. The other twelve practitioners were sent back to the Shenyang Detention Center.
Ms. Zhao Shuyun
Many plainclothes police officers were stationed at the entrance and outside of the courthouse in the early morning hours of March 18. Only one family member per defendant was allowed to attend the trial. When they entered the courtroom, they discovered that majority of the 54 seats had been occupied by people with unknown identities.
Four out of the seven Beijing lawyers outside of the courthouse. The one behind them in a blue jacket is the plainclothes police officer who took away the mobile phone of one of the lawyers when he tried to take a picture of the scene outside the courthouse. When asked for a show of I.D., the person said that he was a police officer. The mobile phone was eventually returned to the lawyer.
The seven defendant lawyers from Beijing argued vigorously about the falsified nature of the “open trial,” and deprivation of family members' observation rights. By 10:00 a.m., the practitioners had been transferred to a basement room in the courthouse, where Ms. Fu Hui fainted. Her blood pressure was 140/80, and heartbeat 110 bpm.
The practitioners were arrested for attending group morning meditation exercise sessions on March 20, 21, and 28, 2013. The case was returned by the local Procuratorate twice, due to lack of evidence. Yet officers at the Shenyang Dadong District Domestic Security Division tortured the practitioners to trump up charges and got the case approved with a third submission on October 24, 2013.
Several Severely Injured for Imposing Fabricated Evidence
As the local Domestic Security Division police tried to trump up charges so the case would be approved by the Procuratorate, all thirteen practitioners were beaten and tortured severely while in police custody, resulting in several grave injuries. One practitioner (Ms. Zhao Shuyun) suffered a mental collapse.
Ms. Fu Hui, 43, is a practitioner from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. The police shocked Ms. Fu Hui's thighs and private areas with electric batons, and drove her blood pressure to over 200. She has undergone emergency treatment several times.
Ms. Fu Hui before torture
Ms. Fu Hui after torture
Ms. Li Yuping (李玉萍), 54, from Shenyang City, became extremely weak due to the brutal torture. She could not walk by herself, and was often sent to a hospital. The Domestic Security Division police confiscated all of her cash at home (including the money prepared for her father's funeral). Her mother is in her eighties and has been so traumatized that she's afraid to go home.
Ms. Ren Xiuying (任秀英), 72, from Harbin City, became extremely weak and suffers from leg and lower back pain.
Ms. Ren Xiuying
Ms. Wu Qiuyan (武秋彦), 58, a practitioner from Harbin City, developed high blood pressure. At the Shenyang Detention Center, she was forced to take two pills each day. She didn't have this problem prior to the arrest.
Eight other practitioners were disfigured from beatings.
Lawyers Had to Fight for Basic Legal Rights and Procedures
On the day before the trial, seven lawyers and several family members met with judge Chen Zhuangwei. They proposed six requests, including no security searches of lawyers, moving the courtroom to the 54-seat room, and that the trial be open to the public.
However, at the entrance to the Dadong District Court, security guards were under orders to search the defense lawyers, even though normally lawyers and officers of the court were exempt from that level of security. One of the lawyers objected to this intimidation tactic and eventually, judge Cheng Zhuangwei got confirmation from his superiors that the defense lawyers could be admitted without being searched.
The twelve practitioners are still detained at the Shenyang Detention Center.
The practitioners: Mr. Liu Zhanhai (刘占海), 48, from Harbin, Heilongjiang Province Ms. Li Yuping (李玉萍), 54, from Shenyang, Liaoning Province Ms. Fu Hui (付辉), 43, from Harbin, Heilongjiang Ms. Liu Jinxia (刘金霞), in her sixties, from Harbin, Heilongjiang Ms. Zang Yuzhen (臧玉珍), in her sixties, from Daqing City, Heilongjiang Ms. Xu Xiaoyan (徐小艳), from Benxi, Liaoning Ms. Ren Xiuying (任秀英), 73, from Harbin, Heilongjiang Ms. Gao Xiufen (高秀芬), 60, from Daqing, Heilongjiang Ms. Liu Yarong (刘亚荣), from Shenyang, Liaoning Mr. Wang Honglin (王洪林), in her sixties, from Benxi, Heilongjiang Mr. Zhao Hongxing (赵宏兴), in her sixties, from Harbin, Heilongjiang Ms. Wu Qiuyan (武秋彦), 58, from Harbin, Heilongjiang
