(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Xiaoli was tried for the second time by Ganjingzi District Court on March 13, 2014. The previous trial was held on December 31, 2013.
In the first trial, the judge refused requests to remove Ms. Zhang's handcuffs in court. The judge removed her robe and fled the courtroom after the two defense attorneys questioned her competency and qualifications. The attorneys then filed a request for her removal from the case.
During this trial, the defense attorney pointed out several illegal court procedures, including prosecutor Zhao Hui replacing the previous prosecutor without informing the lawyers. Also, the four witnesses noted in the assignment statement did not show up, and the evidence had no legal basis. Therefore, the lawyer concluded that the witnesses and evidence could not be used in the case.
Chaotic Trial Process
Prosecutor Zhao Hui is the director of the prosecution division of Ganjingzi District Procuratorate. He behaved in a very arrogant manner, and rudely stopped the defense attorney many times during the trial. The trial paused at lunch time and continued in the afternoon.
The police were searching the possessions of elderly women outside the courtroom, and uniformed and plainclothes police began arresting people at around 3:40 p.m.
Inside the Xinchang residence on the right side of the front gate of the court, about five police officers, as well plainclothes police were chasing an elderly lady and then searched her bag.
Dalian Ganjingzi District Court, Government, Procuratorate, and Police Station are in close proximity. The police station is on the west side of the court, and the Procuratorate is on the south side of the police station.
Long-term Persecution of Ms. Zhang Xiaoli
Ms. Zhang Xiaoli, 37, is a practitioner from Sujiatun, Shenyang, Liaoning Province. She was still attending school when the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, and was constantly harassed by school authorities and 610 Office agents.
She was detained for 15 days while still in school. After she returned, the school administrator ordered her to write a guarantee statement, promising to renounce Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang refused, and was then sentenced to one year in a forced labor camp.
After her release, she returned to Liaoning Teacher's College. The school demanded that her mother accompany her to the school. Three months before her graduation, Ms. Zhang was arrested again and sentenced to three years in the Masanjia Women's Forced Labor Camp.
Ms. Zhang was tortured in the labor camp. She was bound into a tight ball, and other inmates sat on her. She was confined to a small iron cage where she was unable to stand or squat. She was also not allowed to wash or clean herself for six months, and experienced significant hair loss.
Three years later, following her release, she learned that she had been expelled from school. She applied for a new identification, which was denied because she practiced Falun Gong. She has no identification and was thus unable to find a job.
Ms. Zhang returned to her hometown to live with her mother. The police attempted to arrest her again shortly afterward. She escaped in the middle of the night wearing only light clothing, and crossed a mountain range to get to a remote village. She almost froze to death during the journey. A local farmer helped hide her in a horse buggy and took her into the city. She was homeless and destitute.
Since Ms. Zhang went to college in Dalian, she decided to return there with the help of a friend, and was able to find a job and settle down. A fellow practitioner who had been monitored by the police for a long time came to visit her, and stayed with her for a few days. That practitioner was then arrested, along with Ms. Zhang.
She was arrested by Jiao Jian from the Dalian Domestic Security Division, along with officers from the Xinzhaizi Police Station. The officers confiscated her personal items and 20,000 yuan. They dragged her by her hair to the vehicle. Her mother, who hadn't completely recovered from a stroke, hurried to Dalian to rescue her daughter. She pleaded that her daughter had been taken away and held for so many years already, and that she desperately needed her help.
Related article: Illegal Trial Ends in Chaos, Judge Flees the Courtroom
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