(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhang Ping, a 54-year-old Lanzhou City, Gansu Province resident, appeared in the Chengguan District Court on April 7, 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Due to torture in the Lanzhou City No. 1 Detention Center, Ms. Zhang was emaciated and very weak. Her hair had also turned gray.

Two lawyers were present in the hearing. One of them was appointed by the presiding judge, Liu Dongyu, to represent Ms. Zhang and was instructed to enter a guilty plea for her. The other lawyer was hired by Ms. Zhang’s family to defend her innocence.

Upon seeing the court-appointed lawyer, Ms. Zhang’s family asked him to leave.

Ms. Zhang’s own lawyer argued that no law criminalizes Falun Gong in China. All the Falun Gong materials confiscated from his client were her personal belongings and she didn’t harm anyone by having those materials at home.

Ms. Zhang testified in her own defense and she maintained that she didn’t violate any law in practicing her faith, which is centered on the three universal principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” Her defense was repeatedly interrupted by judge Liu.

Ms. Zhang, a former employee of the Gansu Province Trust Investment Company, was followed by plainclothes officers while talking to people on the street on May 9, 2022. They waited at a bus station and arrested her after she got off the bus. Her home was ransacked on the same day. Her arrest was approved on May 24.

While being held at the Lanzhou City No. 1 Detention Center, Ms. Zhang was subjected to the “Back Tandem” torture for doing the Falun Gong exercises. In the torture, she was forced to kneel down; then the guards chained her hands and feet tightly together, rendering her unable to stand up or lie down. The guards kept her chained in the kneeling position for twenty days, during which time, she was only given some water every day. She also struggled to use the restroom during that time.

Illustration of the “Back Tandem” torture

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Yang Junsheng (杨峻生), head of Lanzhou City Domestic Security Office: +86-931-8718903, +86-931-8718941Li Kui (李奎), head of Lanzhou City No.1 Detention Center: +86-13399311430Wang Yuxuan (王煜轩), prosecutor of Chengguan District ProcuratorateLi Xiaochun (李晓春), president of Chengguan District Court: +86-931-8522906Liu Dongyu (刘冬郁), judge of Chengguan District Court: +86-931-8522881

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related report:

Gansu Woman Tortured in Custody, Faces Prosecution for Her Faith