(Minghui.org) Five elderly women in Longkou City, Shandong Province, are facing trial for their faith in Falun Gong, and the presiding judge has barred their family defenders from reviewing their case files because that’d “jeopardize the impartiality of the trial.”
Ms. Liu Haiyan, Ms. Cui Xiuju, Ms. Li Yufang, Ms. Luan Yanping, and Ms. Wu (first name unknown) were arrested during a police sweep on July 17, 2025. They were taken to the Yantai City Detention Center at 11 that night. Yantai oversees Longkou City.
With an average age of nearly 70, the five practitioners were issued formal arrest warrants on August 8. The Longkou City Police Department submitted their cases to the Longkou City Procuratorate on August 18. Prosecutor Lyu Shasha indicted all of them four days later on August 22.
The practitioners’ family defenders filed a complaint against Lyu for issuing the indictments without any legal basis and denying them their right to review the case files and meet with their family members in the detention center. Ms. Li’s family also filed a complaint against the police. (See the related reports for details of the arrests and the families’ earlier efforts to seek justice for the practitioners.)
Right after the five families confirmed on September 3, 2025, that the Longkou City Court had docketed the cases, they submitted to presiding judge Chi Ya’nan their powers of attorney and their requests to review the case files, meet with their loved ones, and be provided with the legal basis for the prosecution.
When the families called Chi the next day, they were told that she was in court. They tried again that afternoon and were told the same thing. They were still unable to get a hold of her on the morning of September 5, but she picked up the phone in the afternoon. She said that she had to consult with her supervisor but he would not return from a business trip until September 8. She kept asking questions irrelevant to the cases.
Chi was nowhere to be found on September 8, but the families managed to talk to her on the phone the next day. She said that they were not allowed to review the case files, a decision made jointly by the court officials. When pressed for a reason, she claimed that the cases were “political and sensitive” and that allowing the family defenders to review the case files would “jeopardize the impartiality of the trial.”
The families demanded a written response to their requests to review the case files, and Chi promised that her supervisor would issue one after he returned from another business trip on September 15. She also said that she’d handle the cases in compliance with the law. “You can cross-examine prosecutor Lyu in court,” she added.
Chi never responded to the three requests that the families submitted on September 8, including “request to obtain exculpatory evidence,” “request to release [the detained practitioners] on bail,” and “request to return the items confiscated during arrests.” They learned later that the court delivered copies of the indictments to the detention center on September 10.
On September 11, the families filed a complaint against Chi and requested that she be recused from the cases.
On September 30, Zhao Yu, president of the criminal division of the Longkou City Court, agreed to give the family defenders a chance to meet with their loved ones at the detention center. But he still barred them from reviewing the case files. After the national holiday period (October 1-8), the families inquired about the visitation time and Chi responded that they were no longer allowed to visit. Chi added that Zhao did not give a reason and simply asked her to relay the decision.
Longkou, Shandong Province: 12 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day, 4 Indicted
70-Year-Old Woman Faces Prosecution for Her Faith, Family Works Tirelessly to Seek Her Release