(Minghui.org) Deyang City police arrested a woman and attempted to charge her with false accusations while denying her right to legal counsel. The prosecutor eventually released her, due to the illegality of the arrest.

Ms. Zhang Guohua was arrested on September 5, 2017 because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline currently persecuted in China. The police later ransacked her home without her presence and confiscated personal belongings without a search warrant. A list of confiscated objects was never issued.

Ms. Zhang’s lawyer attempted to visit her in the detention center three weeks after her arrest, but was turned away. The lawyer threatened to press charges against the authorities and was finally allowed to meet with his client.

On the morning of October 11, when the lawyer met with Ms. Zhang in the Deyang Detention Center, he learned that the police had already filed charges against Ms. Zhang with the Jingyang District Procuratorate, accusing her of “endangering national security.” The lawyer rushed to the Jingyang District Police Department to discuss the issue, but was never granted an audience.

That afternoon the lawyer submitted an application to the Jingyang Procuratorate, requesting that the arrest be rejected. Ms. Zhang was released on October 12, after 37 days of illegal detention. No charges were filed.