(Minghui.org) Ms. Sun Shujie was arrested on June 4. She is still detained despite her poor physical and mental condition. Her family has hired a lawyer to defend her, but they have faced many obstacles from the judge.
Ms. Sun's family hired a lawyer from Beijing, and he went to the Jianshan District Court to request Ms. Sun's case files on July 29. However, presiding Judge Gao Zhixin said he was going to be in a meeting for two days, so he could not discuss the matter.
The lawyer went to the court again the morning of July 30, but Judge Gao asked him to wait. Hours later, the judge said he needed to discuss with his superiors whether the lawyer was allowed to be involved with the case. That same day, the lawyer filed a complaint at the Court Appeals Office against Judge Gao for obstructing his legal right to review the case files.
The lawyer requested access to the case files again the next morning. However, Judge Gao again told the family and the lawyer that since this was a special case, he was waiting for his superiors' approval before the lawyer could get involved. Later that morning, the lawyer was finally allowed access to a copy of Ms. Sun's case files.
When the lawyer visited Ms. Sun on August 1, she was in such bad shape that two guards had to carry her to the meeting. She was very thin and weak, and her hands and head kept trembling and shaking. Since her arrest, she has gone on many hunger strikes, and required trips to the emergency room multiple times.
Background Information on Ms. Sun Shujie
Ms. Sun Shujie, 57, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province. Since the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 1999, she has been illegally arrested 13 times and sent to labor camps 3 times.
The physical torture, mental pressure, humiliation, and break-up of her family was difficult for Ms. Sun to bear. She suffered a mental collapse in 2003 while detained at the Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp.
Ms. Sun was illegally arrested again on June 4, 2014. Due to mistreatment, she suffered from a mental disorder a few weeks after the arrest. Even then, the officials insisted that she be sentenced regardless of her condition.
See the following for a summary of Ms. Sun's ordeal over the years:http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2014/7/31/2317.html
