Police Refuse to Release Guangdong Man After Procuratorate Returns His Case Twice

(Minghui.org) The police in Gaozhou City, Guangdong Province are still pursuing prosecution of a local teacher for practicing Falun Gong, after a prosecutor returned his case twice due to insufficient evidence.

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

Mr. Yu Tao, 45, used to teach math at the Dajing Town No. 1 Middle School. He started practicing Falun Gong to improve his health. For upholding his belief, he was demoted by the Gaozhou City Education Bureau and transferred to the Tiantangcun Elementary School. No matter where he was, Mr. Yu was always popular among the students and received the “excellent teacher” award several times.

Mr. Yu was arrested at home on August 12, 2021. He has been held at the Gaozhou City Detention Center since.

When Mr. Yu’s lawyer visited him the first time on September 29, 2021, he found Mr. Yu with his hands cuffed to the chair. Two guards stood on each side of him and a third stood behind the lawyer. The phone they used was automatically cut off in five minutes and they had to use a different one to continue talking. 

After the Maonan District Procuratorate returned Mr. Yu’s case to the Gaozhou City Domestic Security Office on November 22, 2021, the police submitted it again in December, only to be rejected a second time on January 17, 2022. In order to frame Mr. Yu, a police officer accused him of distributing 44 copies of Falun Gong materials “somewhere in Gaozhou” and submitted his case again on February 15. 

Mr. Yu’s lawyer reviewed his case at the Maonan District Procuratorate on February 28. When he went to the detention center to visit his client on March 2, the guards blocked him, with the excuse that he carried some risk of COVID-19 based on his travel history. The lawyer said he’d just visited another two clients in the nearby Maoming City the day before. He submitted all required documentation and made the appointment with the detention center according to their instruction. He questioned why the guards blocked him.

No matter how he tried, the guards insisted that the lawyer wasn’t allowed to see Mr. Yu. The lawyer also talked to Xie Meili, the head of the detention center, but to no avail. He filed a complaint against the detention center. Just when he was about to leave, Xie agreed for him to meet with Ms. Yu three days later on March 5, a Saturday. 

The meeting was conducted virtually. Just like the first visit, the lawyer saw three guards behind Mr. Yu as they were talking. 

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Deng Xiangming (邓向明), secretary, Gaozhou Political and Legal Affairs Committee: [phone], [phone]Ling Weiyang (凌卫阳), head, Gaozhou City Domestic Security Office: [phone]Xie Meili (谢梅丽), head, Gaozhou City Detention Center: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)