His attorney pleaded not guilty on Mr. Chen's behalf. Chen Jinshu insisted that he was innocent. Under pressure from around the world, the Shenzhen court delayed his trial with the excuse that the case involved state secrets. Chen Jinshu's family members called attention to the case as an instance where freedom of belief, freedom of speech and freedom of thought were oppressed. They demanded that CCP return Chen Jinshu to Hong Kong immediately.
Mr. Chen Jinshu entered Shenzhen City on April 16, 2007, to visit his father, who is almost 80 years old. That day Mr. Chen was treating his father to dim sum at Fulin Restaurant in Shenzhen, when several state security officers suddenly charged into the restaurant and arrested him without a warrant. Afterwards, they searched his father's factory and home, again without a warrant. It was not until April 17, that the Baoan Branch of Shenzhen City Police Department issued Mr. Chen's family a criminal detention notification, stating that it was because Mr. Chen practices Falun Gong. Later, on July 25, 2007, Baoan District Court quietly held a trial of Mr. Chen Jinshu. The court didn't give permission to Mr. Chen's family members to enter the court for the trial. Only the attorney that Mr. Chen's family members hired appeared in court. It was said that the so-called evidence provided by the Shenzhen City Procuratorate included a claim that there was a Hong Kong citizen named Li Chen, who was in charge of the Hong Kong Libao Company. He had taken advantage of transportation companies to deliver the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and Falun Gong books to Shenzhen City in the guise of plastic wrappers. The city procuratorate tried to prove that Li Chen and Mr. Chen Jinshu were one in the same.
The Attorney Enters a Not Guilty Plea
According to a reliable source, the Shenzhen City Procuratorate provided four witnesses, who were employees of the transportation company and had been in contact with Li Chen over the telephone. However, none of them had seen Li Chen in person. They alleged that Chen Jinshu was Li Chen by the sound of his voice. Therefore, Mr. Chen Jinshu's attorney entered a "not guilty" plea for him by denying the witnesses' reports as "no solid and direct evidence provided."
Mr. Chen's attorney pointed out for the defense that there were four major flaws in the evidence: First of all, not one of the witnesses could prove that the plastic-wrapped items were delivered by Mr. Chen Jinshu. And also, none of them could confirm without doubt that the person who contacted them was Mr. Chen. Secondly, two witnesses claimed that the person in the phone calls sounded over 50 years old, and had the accent of the Zhao Zhou area. Those identifications matched Mr. Chen, however, in Hong Kong, a huge number of people matched these identifications. Thirdly, among those witnesses, there was one named Zheng, who claimed that she was quite familiar with Mr. Chen Jinshu and had a long-term business relationship with him. The attorney pointed out her contradictory testimony by stating that: How could it be possible that Mr. Chen kept in contact with her in the name of Li Chen as well as in his true name? Wouldn't she notice? Fourthly, another witness with the last name Zhang, provided totally different testimony from the other three witnesses by claiming that the voice of the person in the phone calls was in the "standard Chinese accent, and sounded girlish."
The attorney further pointed out that the evidence the Procuratorate provided also eliminated the possibility that Li Chen was Chen Jinshu. According to another verdict the Shenzhen Court provided, Li Chen had already been arrested and sentenced in a different case. In other words, Li Chen was a real person and he has already been detained.
As spokesperson of the Hong Kong association of the "Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners" that followed up the case of Chen Jinshu, Chen Ruijin stated that the case was ridiculous. "It's shocking to know that there is no evidence at all," She said, "I believe that the attorney dared to plead not guilty for him just because the case was so ridiculous. Any person with common sense will find there are contradictions everywhere in this case."
It's Not a Crime to Transport Truth-Clarification Materials and Books
Chen Ruijin emphasized that even if a person did transport such materials, he should be judged to be absolutely innocent. She said, "I checked the so-called testimonies, and the transported books are the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun. Everything stated in Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party is based on facts, even Communist party members cannot find any method to negate it. And everything in Zhuan Falun is to tell people how to be a good person. The Falun Gong practitioners buy these books by themselves, and transport these books to mainland China to show their friends. This action really can stabilize the whole society and play a positive role in society."
The CCP fears the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and the loss of party membership it has wrought.
In recent years Chen Jinshu came to mainland China to visit his family members every month, so why did CCP choose to arrest him this time? Chen Ruijin explained that the national security bureau had begun to monitor Mr. Chen's activities. They repeatedly told Mr. Chen's family members, "Because Chen Jinshu frequently participates in Falun Gong activities, he must be a prominent member."
Chen Ruijin pointed out that the CCP secret agents tried to use this to gather more information to cause bigger losses than just arresting Mr. Chen. From Mr. Chen's case and the case of arresting of Dr. Wang Lian, who is a Ph. D. student in Hong Kong, we can see that there were a large number of secret agents sent by CCP everywhere in Hong Kong. They threatened to arrest all Falun Gong practitioners who dare to enter mainland China from Hong Kong. The reason behind this phenomenon is that they are so afraid of the book, Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and the tide of Chinese people quitting CCP.
Mr. Chen's Family Seeking Help
Chen Ruijin pointed out that since Mr. Chen has been illegally detained, his family members have suffered tremendously. His unlawful detention left his family almost broke, and his wife desperate. On May 1, Mrs. Chen went to the Immigration Office of Hong Kong to ask for help from the Hong Kong administration. She appealed for her husband, asking the CCP to set her husband free as soon as possible. Mrs. Chen said, " My husband is a good person who always obeys laws and regulations. Is it unlawful to go back China to visit his elderly parents and his friends, or to do business?"
Mr. Chen's father passed out when Mr. Chen was arrested in Shenzhen City. He insisted on going to Shenzhen City Police Station to ask for his son's release. Mr. Chen's family members also wrote letters to Shenzhen City Police Station, Shenzhen City Procuratorate and several related departments of the Hong Kong Administration to appeal for Mr. Chen's release. They requested Mr. Chen be set free immediately. However, they haven't received any response. Unfortunately, Mr. Chen's father fell ill as a result of such severe pressure.
The attorney for Mr. Chen and Ms. Chen Ruijin call for help from the outside world to rescue Mr. Chen. Help him get back to Hong Kong so he can help his family members.
Ms. Yu Lipao, from Qidong City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on June 26, 2001 as she distributed Falun Gong informational flyers. During the illegal detention, guards made Ms. Yu sit on the tiger bench for two days and one night, with metal rods fixing her legs in one position. The guards took turns beating her when they questioned her. She was tortured so badly that her face and body were badly disfigured. Her legs were swollen to twice their normal size and she was barely able to walk.
Then she was illegally sentenced to eight years in prison. Six years ago, she was transferred to the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison six years ago, where she has been physically abused and mentally tormented.
On August 21, 2007, Ms. Yu's father-in-law and her son went to the prison for their limited monthly visit (a "level two" restriction for those who refused to give up their belief in Falun Gong). They saw that Ms. Yu was emaciated and was constantly holding her abdomen. Her eight-year-old son could not even recognize his mother. Her father-in-law was very deeply hurt by what he saw and felt as if a knife was piercing his heart.
Three days later, Ms. Yu's parents and her father-in-law went to the prison again, attempting to petition for outside medical treatment for her. The prison officials refused the visitation, saying, "How do you know her life is in danger?" When the family insisted to have her checked by people in an outside medical facility, the prison guards told them that Ms. Yu had cooperated with the treatment provided, and her condition had improved. They said that her life was no longer in danger. This is clearly a lie; how could a person who was so sick three days earlier have recovered so quickly?
The officials at the Women's Prison attempt to forcibly "reform" Falun Gong practitioners. To pursue their goals, they developed a series of torture techniques, especially applied to those who remain steadfast in their practice of Falun Gong. As the result, Yu Lipao suffered from severe intestinal problems as diagnosed by physicians at an outside hospital.
The Women's Prison is still detaining and persecuting about 300 Falun Gong practitioners.
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yang Daowen, from Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, was illegally arrested and detained for two months. After that, he was sentenced to forced labor. On August 13, he was taken to Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp in Changsha City for the second time. Because he was in critical condition, the labor camp refused to admit him. However, the policemen from Pingjiang National Security Team insisted that Mr. Yang be detained at the labor camp.
In June 2007, the policemen from Pingjiang National Security Team and Yuping Police Station arrested eight practitioners in Yuping Town because the practitioners "installed New Tang Dynasty satellite TV receivers." The policemen also arrested practitioners Yang Daowen from Wukou Town, Chen Ting from Meixian Town, and Li Wolong from Nanjiang Town.
The policemen from Pingjiang County National Security Team and the Township Police Station tortured the practitioners, attempting to get confessions. Mr. Yang Daowen suffered the most severe torture.
On June 29, over a dozen policemen from Pingjiang County National Security Team and Wukou Police Station, without showing any identification, forcibly took Yang Daowen to the building of the county National Security Team. All of them (except one who took notes) took turns to torture Mr. Yang, attempting to get a confession from him. After failing to get anything from Mr. Yang, the policemen detained him in the detention center.
In the detention center, Mr. Yang Daowen suffered from additional torture by the cell heads who used such torture methods as punching and kicking. The other practitioners were also tortured, not only by the officers from the National Security Team and the local police station, but also by the cell heads. In recent years, the cell heads at Pingjiang County Detention Center have been barbarically torturing people. On August 11, a suspect and peasant from Jiufeng Village, Wukou Town, by the name of Fu Qing, was beaten to death in the detention center.
Yang Daowen, Chen Ting, and He Youai were all sentenced to one year and three months of forced labor, and they were taken to Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp in August. The doctor at the labor camp examined the three practitioners and presented the notice that all three of them were in critical condition. Hence the labor camp refused to admit any of them. Nevertheless, the policemen from Pingjiang County National Security Team took the three practitioners back to the detention center, where they found that Mr. Yang Daowen's physical condition was abnormal.
The National Security Team detained the three practitioners for a week. After that, the policemen took the three practitioners again to Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp. After checking the practitioners' physical condition, the labor camp once again refused to admit the practitioners. Yet, policemen from the National Security Team negotiated with the labor camp for a long time. At around 10:00 p.m., Mr. Yang Daowen was forcibly jailed at the labor camp.