(Minghui.org) A 61-year-old widow in Lanzhou City is facing trial for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. When her daughter visited different government agencies trying to get her release, the local police threatened to give her mother a heavier sentence.
Ms. Wang Xiongzhen was seized at home on June 18, 2017, and issued a formal arrest warrant on July 21. The local procuratorate returned the case to the police on September 26, citing insufficient evidence.
Instead of releasing her, the police resubmitted the case on October 24 and managed to persuade the procuratorate to file an indictment against her. Her case was forwarded to the local court on November 16.
Another local Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Yuan Xiuying, was arrested the same day as Ms. Wang. The procuratorate also returned Ms. Yuan’s case to the police, but the police resubmitted it and the procuratorate then filed charges against her. She and Ms. Wang will be tried together by judge Liu Dongyu.
Daughter Lives in Fear
Ms. Wang’s daughter was at work when the police descended on the home she and her mother shared. More than a dozen officers arrived in two police vehicles. They pried open the door and seized Ms. Wang. They didn’t show any ID or search warrant, nor did they inform her daughter.
A neighbor called Ms. Wang’s daughter after the police left. The young woman was shaken by the news and rushed home. She saw clothes and other personal belongings scattered all over the place.
Officer Wei called Ms. Wang’s daughter the next morning, June 19. He informed her that her mother was being held in Lanzhou City First Detention Center and asked her to pick up the detention notice.
The young woman went to the local police station the following day. Officer Wei claimed that they were gathering evidence against Ms. Wang.
Ms. Wang’s daughter hired a lawyer, who informed her that her mother had not committed a crime.
The daughter went to the detention center on June 21 but was turned away. A guard on duty said there would be no family visits before her mother was sentenced.
The young woman has been living in fear since her mother’s arrest. She has gone to many government agencies, including the local People’s Congress and the local police station, and asked them to help get her mother released. The police, in the meantime, have threatened to ensure that her mother gets a longer sentence if she keeps trying to seek justice for her mother.
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