(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Chen Qingfang and Mr. Tu Qingguang from Meizhou City were arrested in March and April 2017, respectively. They are being held in the Meijiang District Detention Center, awaiting trial.
Ms. Chen and Mr. Tu's cases were transferred to the Meijiang Procuratorate in mid-June. Their family members hired an attorney to defend them. The attorney tried to discuss the case with the Procuratorate and the court, but the staff there would not cooperate and tried to intimidate him.
The case was sent to the Meijiang District Court on July 3, 2017. Ms. Chen and Mr. Tu's family members and the attorney tried to talk to the court officials about the case but were told that the attorney had been dismissed by Ms. Chen and Mr. Tu.
The attorney and the practitioners’ family members went to the detention center and asked to meet with Ms. Chen and Mr. Tu to verify the dismissal, but the detention center guards refused to let them see the two practitioners.
The attorney explained that an attorney requires written documentation if they are to be dismissed. The family members insisted on seeing the practitioners, but several armed police forced them to leave.
Ms. Chen Qingfang's Arrest
Ms. Chen Qingfang, in her late 40s, handed information about Falun Gong to the owner of a butcher shop in Meijiang on March 18, 2017. She was arrested by officers from the Chengbei Police Station.
Ms. Chen was taken to the Yuemei Detention Center and was transferred to the Meijiang District Detention Center on March 31, 2017.
Mr. Tu Qingquang's Arrest
Mr. Tu Qingquang, in his 50s, was arrested on April 12, 2017, while he was talking to people about Falun Gong in Kejia Park. He was taken to the Dongjiao Police Station, and his home was ransacked.
Mr. Tu was later transferred to the Meijiang Detention Center. His arrest was approved by the Procuratorate on April 26, 2017.
Mr. Tu has been persecuted several times for telling people about Falun Gong. He was arrested and sentenced to a three-and-a-half year prison term in November 2001.
He was arrested on January 25, 2017, and his home was ransacked again. He was detained in the Meijiang Detention Center for five days during the Chinese New Year.
