Woman in Life-threatening Condition During Trial for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) Ms. Sun Shulan in Guyuan County, Hebei Province, suffered a medical episode while being tried in her home for practicing Falun Gong. When her family tried to hold the Zhangbei County Court responsible for her condition, they were unable to get anyone to answer their call.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

When another Falun Gong practitioner went on a vacation in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, with her family in September 2019, security officers on the train discovered she was carrying 20 banknotes with messages about Falun Gong printed on them. (Due to strict information censorship, Falun Gong practitioners use creative ways to raise awareness about the persecution of their faith, including printing information on banknotes.)

When the police interrogated her, she told them that Ms. Sun had given her the banknotes. The police ransacked Ms. Sun’s home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, informational materials, and a few broken printers. Due to Ms. Sun’s poor health, she was released on bail.

The Guyuan County Domestic Security Office later submitted Ms. Sun’s case to the Zhangbei County Procuratorate, which indicted her and moved her case to the Zhangbei County Court.

Both Guyuan County and Zhangbei County are under the administration of Zhangjiakou City.

On January 14, 2021, two people from Zhangbei County Court delivered the indictment to Ms. Sun’s home. Her family was ordered to sign the paperwork to extend her bail term. Her family requested that Ms. Sun be excused from the hearing due to her health. The court insisted on her attendance but they agreed for the judge to hold the trial in her home.

During the hearing at her home on October 14, 2021, Ms. Sun argued that the persecution was illegal.

The prosecutor listed the 20 banknotes with Falun Gong messages confiscated from the other practitioner as evidence and also presented a testimony allegedly by that practitioner. That testimony said that the other Falun Gong materials confiscated from her home also came from Ms. Sun. When Ms. Sun’s family checked with that practitioner days later, she said she had never made such a testimony.

Ms. Sun’s husband was also listed as a prosecution witness. According to the testimony that the police said he made, he stated that he saw Ms. Sun carrying a heavy broken printer into their storage room. While the police had her husband’s signature on the record, he said he had never said such things. Ms. Sun added that when the police interrogated her, they said themselves that it would be impossible for a weak woman like her to carry such a heavy machine.

Outraged by the fabricated evidence, Ms. Sun became very emotional. Her face turned red and her teeth chattered. She groaned in pain and had difficulty breathing.

The court officials attempted to conclude the proceedings but relented when her family protested. Her mother-in-law said that Ms. Sun would have died from a disease long ago had she not practiced Falun Gong.

The court officials told her family to call an ambulance, but her daughter-in-law said the court should be held responsible for her condition and that they should call the ambulance. When the ambulance arrived, Ms. Sun was found to have life-threatening high blood pressure. When they heard that, the court officials quickly left even though an EMT asked that one of them go with them to the hospital.

Ms. Sun’s blood pressure remained very high in the hospital. The doctor also found something not right with her heart. Upon returning home, her eyes and mouth began to droop and she had difficulty talking.

Her family kept calling the court to hold it responsible for Ms. Sun’s condition, but they were never able to get anyone to pick up the phone.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Zhao Lijun (赵立军), presiding judge of Zhangbei County Court: [phone]Duan Yongtao (段永桃), judge: [phone]Hou Haonan (侯浩楠), court clerk: [phone]Wu Yongqiang (武永强), prosecutor of Zhangbei County Procuratorate: [phone]