(Minghui.org) Ms. Su Chunfeng from Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, who was out on bail for health reasons was taken back into custody on July 12, 2023 to face trial for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Su Chunfeng’s ordeal began when she was arrested on January 11, 2022. She and three other local Falun Gong practitioners were abducted after they were followed by the police while they distributed informational materials about Falun Gong.
Ms. Su was released on bail on January 14 due to a health condition, but the police repeatedly tried to arrest her. Mr. Hou Shuyuan, Ms. Liu Zaiyun and Ms. Hu Xiumei remain in custody since they were arrested.
The local Yunhe District Procuratorate twice returned the case to police, but the four practitioners were indicted on October 26, 2022, after the police re-submitted the case. Judge Liu Zhongcheng of the Yunhe District Court was assigned to handle the case.
The Minghui.org website has reported on the four practitioners’ arrest and indictment extensively. Please read the related reports for details. This report shares recent updates about Ms. Su.
Five officers from the Xinhua District Domestic Security Office, including Gao Fuson, Cui Qiang, and Yuan Tingting, broke into Ms. Su’s home just after 5 p.m. on July 14, 2022. They grabbed her arms and began to drag her outside. She screamed, “Help!”
Cui gouged Ms. Su’s triceps brachii (on the backside of her upper arm) hard and her arm was badly bruised.
The police took Ms. Su to the Xiaozhaozhuang Police Station for interrogation. She refused to answer their questions and was released at 8:30 p.m. that night.
Niu Ben, captain of Xinhua District Domestic Security Office, led five officers, including Zhang Liang and Wang Liang, to break into Ms. Su’s home at 10 a.m. on July 12, 2023. They took her to the “Cangzhou Law Enforcement and Case Management Center” near the Cangzhou City Detention Center for a medical examination.
At 2 p.m., the police drove Ms. Su to the Cangzhou City Detention Center, which declined to admit her when they noticed her health exam results indicated she was in poor health.
Officers Zhang and Wang then took Ms. Su to the Chang County Hospital for another medical examination. The results indicated that she had a high blood pressure reading of 220/130 mmHg (when the normal range is 120/80 mmHg), bilateral carotid arteries in the neck, sclerosis with plaque formation in the left carotid artery, a small amount of tricuspid valve and aortic valve regurgitation, and decreased diastolic function of the left ventricle.
Officials at the Cangzhou City Detention Center again refused to accept Ms. Su after reading the county hospital’s health exam results.
Wang and Zhang gave up their attempt to have Ms. Su detained and drove her to the Yunhe District Court, hoping to get her placed under house arrest. They waited outside for about one hour when they received a call from captain Niu. He told them, “Let’s not ask the court to give her house arrest yet. Go to the Cang County Hospital again and give her a cranial CT scan.”
Wang and Zhang then drove Ms. Su to the hospital for the scan before taking her back to the Xinhua District Police Department, where they held her overnight.
Around 11 a.m. on July 13, captain Niu and officer Zhang drove Ms. Su to the Cangzhou City Detention Center. Since the CT scan showed nothing abnormal in her brain, the detention center admitted her.
The day before (July 12), the police gave Ms. Su’s husband a notice stating that the Yunhe District Court approved her arrest and that she was taken to the Cangzhou City Detention Center that day, when in fact she wasn’t admitted until July 13.
Ms. Su and the other three practitioners were arrested on January 11, 2022, after being followed by the police when they distributed informational materials about Falun Gong.
Ms. Su was released on bail on January 14 due to her health condition. Mr. Hou was taken to the Cangzhou City Detention Center on January 16, and Ms. Liu and Ms. Hu were taken there two days later. Mr. Hou, Ms. Liu, and Ms. Hu have been illegally detained for more than eighteen months at the time of this report.
Gao Fusong of the Xinhua District Domestic Security Office, who arrested the practitioners, submitted the practitioners’ joint case to the Xinhua District Procuratorate in early April, and the case was transferred to the Yunhe District Procuratorate on May 14.
When one of the defense lawyers called prosecutor Kong Lingxia on June 20 to inquire about the case, Kong claimed she returned it to the police for more evidence, but she refused to reveal when she did. The lawyer later confirmed that the case was returned on June 14.
In the past two decades, Kong has actively participated in sentencing Falun Gong practitioners, with the longest term being ten years.
To frame Ms. Su, Mr. Hou, Ms. Liu, and Ms. Hu, the police installed surveillance devices on their motorcycles and harassed their family members and co-workers.
The practitioners’ lawyers wrote to various government agencies on July 13 and 14, urging the authorities to release them. They argued that the practitioners’ spiritual belief is protected by China's constitution and that the practitioners did not harm anyone or society by distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.
Prosecutor Kong still indicted the four practitioners on October 26, 2022 after the police submitted their cases again. He further submitted the case to the Yunhe District Court on November 15, 2022. Judge Fu Rao was initially assigned to handle the case, but judge Liu Zhongcheng was asked to take over after Fu went on maternity leave. Liu once sentenced another local practitioner, Ms. Zhang Xuemei, to three and a half years for practicing Falun Gong.
Four Hebei Residents Face Trial for Practicing Falun Gong
Cases Against Falun Gong Practitioners Twice Returned, Police Still Attempt toFabricate More Evidence Against Them