Daughter and Aunt Face Trial for Seeking Release of Mother
Falun Gong practitioner arrested by police in Tiananmen Square during the early days of the persecution.
From April 19-20, authorities arrested Ms. Wang Meiqi, a college senior, and her two aunts for seeking justice for her mother, Ms. Zhang Qiaolei.
Zhang, was arrested in February 2020, for putting up Falun Gong informational materials. Although she was released on bail, authorities re-arrested her in December 2020. Her daughter and sisters, Ms. Zhang Qiaoyun and Ms. Zhang Qiaoxiu, then visited government agencies to seek her release.
The three women were continually threatened and humiliated by authorities.
The three were then arrested when they went to receive Zhang’s approval of arrest On December 21. Police gave the pretext that they had been “disrupting social order”. They were each given detainment terms between 13-15 days.
As Wang had graduate school exams scheduled during the detainment period, she had to request special permission to take the exams. She was made to return the detention center to continue serving her term after.
Later, Zhang’s case was transferred to the Liuhe County Procuratorate on February 3. Her family called Jiang Meichen, a clerk of Liuhe County Court, on March 8, 2021, to inquire about her case. They were told that a hearing had been scheduled for March 16. Jiang refused to reveal more information and hung up the phone.
On the day of the hearing, judge Lu Xu lied to Zhang’s family that the hearing had been postponed, when in fact he secretly held the session at the same time.
Zhang was later sentenced to an unknown term. She has appealed with the Tonghua City Intermediate Court on April 15. Zhang’s family continued to seek justice for her.
On the evening of April 19, Wang was arrested again at her dorm at Jilin Normal University. Her two aunts were arrested as soon as they left home the next morning. The three of them were interrogated by officers from the Liuhe County Police Department.
While Zhang Qiaoyun was released on the afternoon of April 20, Wang and Zhang Qiaoxiu and have been kept in custody. Their arrests were approved by the Liuhe County Procuratorate on May 26. They are now facing trial by the Liuhe County Court.
Based on an original report from Minghui.org:
