(Minghui.org) Ms. Wu Chunhuan is a Falun Gong practitioner from Qinglong County, Qinhuangdao City. After she was sentenced to a one-year-and-eight-month prison term, she appealed her case. The second hearing was held at the Intermediate Court in Qinhuangdao City on the afternoon of September 17, 2018. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea and demanded that she be released.
Ms. Wu's daughter defended her mother along with her defense lawyer. It is the first time that a family member defended a relative at the Qinhuangdao City Intermediate Court.
The court hearing lasted about two-and-a-half hours.
Article 39 of the Constitution stipulates that the residence of a citizen cannot be searched without a legal warrant.
The staff from the town government and police officers from the Domestic Security Division in Qinglong County violated the above. While in plain clothes, they didn't present a search warrant when ransacking the home of Ms. Wu. They confiscated personal belongings without providing a list of the items.
The defense lawyer and trustee repeatedly said that practicing Falun Gong is in line with China's laws and constitution and that citizens should enjoy freedom of belief. A citizen's belief has nothing to do with “undermining the implementation of the law.”
The defense lawyer dismissed the evidence and witness testimony that was presented.
Under existing Chinese law, CDs and banners, confiscated in a Falun Gong practitioner's home, cannot be presented as evidence of a crime, and can be owned legally. These items belong to a Falun Gong practitioner's collection. Even if they are distributed in public, it is still in accordance with the Constitution, which states that citizens can print, publish and share information.
Personal items stored in one's home have no motive, no behavior, and no objective to destroy or cause harm. How can documents, desk calendars or CDs violate the laws of the country? How are they able to do so?
The lawyer, the trustee, and Ms. Wu demanded to be released and not be charged with a crime.
At about 9:00 a.m. on December 24, 2017, Li Yinqing, head of the Qinglong County Domestic Security Division; Wang Youwen, former deputy at the Sanbozhi Police Station; Tian Yujun, director of the Sanbozhi Police Station, and police officers Liu Fusuo, Gao Zhao and Zhu Xiaohong, arrived at Ms. Wu Cunhuan's home in three cars. None of them were in uniform. They broke into her home and ransacked it. They confiscated her son's computer and other personal belongings.
They arrested Ms. Wu and took her son, who is not a practitioner, for questioning. Later they brought her husband to the county police branch for questioning as well. They were let go in the afternoon.
Ms. Wu Cunhuan was taken to the Detention Center No.1 in Qinhuangdao City that night and has been detained there ever since.
Ms. Wu is from Suizhangzi Village of Suizhangzi Township, Qinglong County. After she started to practice Falun Gong in the second half of 1998, she gained back her health and her family was much happier.
She took care of her uncle who was deaf and had cancer. She is widely recognized in the village as a good person.