(Minghui.org) A Falun Gong practitioner and his two lawyers defended his constitutional right to freedom of belief during his court hearing on December 21, 2018. The prosecutor then requested to withdraw the indictment against him and to return the case to police for additional evidence.
Mr. Tian Xingbao is a resident in Weiqiao Town, Shenzhou City, Hebei Province. He and some other practitioners put up Falun Gong posters in Dadi Town on May 17 and were spotted through surveillance video by Shenzhou police, who notified Chief Dai of Weiqiao Police Station. Dai and a few officers arrested the practitioners.
Falun Gong is a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999. Practitioners have been using various means, including posting Falun Gong materials in public spaces, to raise awareness of the persecution.
The authorities have been monitoring practitioners' grassroots activities through surveillance videos, phone tapping, and high-tech measures. Video cameras have now been installed in almost every village, and police have access to them from their headquarters through a computer network.
On the morning after Mr. Tian' arrest, three officers from Weiqiao Police Station ransacked his home and confiscated a printer, paper, and cash of over 10,000 yuan. Mr. Tian was sent to Shenzhou Detention Center, while other practitioners were released after 8 days of detention. Mr. Tian's car was returned to him, and the majority of the confiscated cash was given back.
After Shenzhou police forwarded the case to Anping County Procuratorate, it was rejected on September 17 due to insufficient evidence. But the police resubmitted the case and got it accepted.
Mr. Tian's attorneys visited him at the detention center on October 11 and reviewed the case at the procuratorate, which proceeded to forward the case to Anping County Court on November 5. He remains detained after the prosecutor returned his case to police following his trial on December 21.
Villagers Arrested after Police See Them Putting Up Falun Gong Posters on Surveillance Cameras