(Minghui.org) The family of a Wuhan City, Hubei Province resident is suing a local prosecutor for indicting their loved one for her faith in Falun Gong. They are demanding that the prosecutor drop the indictment against her and dismiss her case.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhou Xiuhua, 72, was arrested on July 15, 2020 by Ruan Hao and other officers from the Dongxihu District Police Station. The police ransacked her home and later released her on bail.
On December 15, 2020, the police submitted Ms. Zhou’s case to the Dongxihu District Procuratorate. Two months later, she was taken back into custody. The prosecutor transferred her case to the Hanyang District Procuratorate, which has been designated to handle Falun Gong cases.
The Hanyang District Procuratorate indicted Ms. Zhou in June 2021 and moved her case to the Hanyang District Court. Her family went to the court several times to inquire about her case, but no one ever received them or followed up with them.
After Ms. Zhou was arrested, her family bought law books and studied them. They found that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China and that it’s her constitutionally protected right to practice Falun Gong. On the other hand, it was the police who broke the law in ransacking her home without a warrant and giving them a confiscation list without a signature.
In July 2021, Ms. Zhou’s family mailed complaints against Wu Songen, the prosecutor of the Hanyang District Procuratorate, suing him for ignoring the violation of legal procedure by the police in handling Ms. Zhou’s case. They also accused the prosecutor of abusing his power in indicting Ms. Zhou, despite the lack of legal basis for the persecution of Falun Gong.
On August 10, 2021, Ms. Zhou’s family filed another request with the Hanyang District Procuratorate and the Hanyang District Court to recuse prosecutor Wu from her case.
A week later, they requested that the court reject the indictment and investigate the violation of legal procedure by prosecutor Wu and police officer Ruan.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Deng Wei (邓玮), Judge, Hanyang District Court: +86-027-84586522, +86-18717176081Gao Shang (高尚), Prosecutor, Hanyang District Procuratorate: +86-27-84882290Lin Xinghua (林兴华), head of Wujiashanjie Police Station: +86-27-83245110, +86-27-83245710, +86-27-83291309
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Woman in Her 70s Detained for Two Weeks and Counting, Faces Prosecution for Her Faith