(Minghui.org) Mr. Zhang Yongbo, his wife, and daughter, who have been held for more than four months in detention centers, were tried on January 10, 2013 in Jiaonan City Court in Shandong Province.

Mr. Zhang was taken from Jiaonan Detention Center at 9:00 a.m. to the courthouse, where a male and female judge questioned him about a DVD burner confiscated from his home. They attempted to charge him with a crime. Mr. Zhang pointed out, “Believing in Falun Dafa and clarifying the facts to people does not constitute a crime. It is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that is committing a crime.” He pointed out that the CCP's defaming, slandering, persecuting Falun Gong, and stopping people from knowing the truth, is a crime. The judges couldn't respond, but said that since the CCP paid them, they had to follow their orders.

Police officers took Ms. Zhang Xin and her daughter from Qingdao Detention Center at Pudong Town, Jimo City to Jiaonan Court at around 11:00 a.m. When her sister saw her, she couldn't help crying. Ms. Zhang said loudly, “Don't cry. I did nothing wrong. Don't be afraid.” Ms. Zhang also asked the judge, “We practice Falun Gong to have our illnesses healed and keep fit, what's wrong with that? You should treat good people kindly. That will bring you a good future.” The judges attempted to lure Ms. Zhang into confirming that the police confiscated truth-clarification materials from her home in order to charge her. Ms. Zhang also said clearly that this was not a crime.

Ms. Zhang's daughter was the last one present in the court. She refuted the judge in an upright manner, by saying that Falun Gong practitioners downloading, printing, and distributing truth-clarification materials falls under one's freedom of speech. She added that there was nothing wrong with having a belief, whereas the CCP purposefully wrongly sentences Falun Gong practitioners, which is truly a crime.

In the end, the judges asked three of them to sign the verdict, but they very firmly refused.

Mr. Zhang and His Wife Have Been Sentenced and Arrested Many Times

Both Mr. Zhang Yongbo and Mr. Zhang Xin are retired employees from Jiaonan City, and are in their sixties. Their daughter is in her thirties. They have been subjected to the persecution many times since July 20, 1999, when the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong. Mr. Zhang had been sentenced to three years of imprisonment, and Ms. Zhang Xin has been arrested many times. She had been subjected to a number of tortures including being put in a small iron case, and had her face beaten to deformity.

On August 28, 2012, when Ms. Liu Lanxin, a practitioner from Jiaonan City was clarifying the facts at a local gathering in Songyuan Village, she was reported by someone and then arrested by police officers from Tieshanlu Police Station. Ms. Zhang Xin went to Ms. Liu's home at noon time to visit her, and ended up being arrested by police officers who were ransacking her home. Police officers then broke into Ms. Zhang Xin's home, where they arrested Mr. Zhang. When their daughter came to their home that night to deliver food, the police officers also arrested her.

Mr. Zhang's family are currently still held at Jiaonan Detention Center and Qingdao Detention Center.

People who are responsible for the persecution in Jiaonan City:
Zhang Zhong, secretary of the Jiaonan City political and juridical committee: +86-532-85701717 (Office), +86-532-85161918 (Office)
Zhang Zerong, secretary of Jiaonan City 610 Office: +86-532-532-85161920 (Office), +86-13589363738 (Cell)
Song Shanpeng, head of Jiaonan City Tieshanlu Police Station: +86-532-88183232 (Office), +86-13969839188

Please refer to the original Chinese text for more names and telephone numbers.