Chen Zijuan's "trial": From Shenzhen to Fengxian, to wait for the trial of a human rights lawyer

[Editor's note] This article was jointly released by Duan Media and the NGOCN Voice Program, and was first published on Duan Media.

Last June, we jointly reported with Duan Media on the situation of Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Weiping, who was released on bail pending trial in his hometown in Shaanxi after he was first arrested in January 2020, and how he was tortured for posting online. , was arrested again in October 2020 on the charge of "suspecting subversion of state power" and has been detained since then (see "Lawyer Chang Weiping, a person who cannot be tolerated in the state" , English version Intolerable to the State: Lawyer Chang Weiping ) .

In July this year, the trial date of Chang Weiping's case was announced. His wife, Chen Zijuan, decided to take the family from Shenzhen to Fengxian, Shaanxi, and waited outside the court on the day of the trial. The following is Chen Zijuan's experience with her mother and child.

An emerald green suit and skirt, which is rarely a chance to wear at ordinary times. On July 26, 2022, Chen Zijuan will wear it to "watch" her husband Chang Weiping's trial.

The Fengxian Court in Baoji City has announced that Chang Weiping's "subversion of state power" case will not be heard publicly. This deprived her of the opportunity to sit in on the trial as a family member. But she held on to hope and planned to bring her mother and son to stand outside the court. Perhaps, on the way from the detention center to the court, Chang Weiping could see them through the window of the prison van.

Chen Zijuan works in a large hospital in Shenzhen. She is the same age as Chang Weiping, both 38 years old this year. She is a Ph.D. in biology, and could have lived a good life, "the years are quiet". But since her husband was arrested again in October 2020, her life has suddenly been changed.

After one year and eight months of persistently speaking out, appealing for her husband, and seeking attention from all walks of life under pressure, she waited for this trial, which "is actually hopeless".

1

In July 2022, after a week-long "pre-court meeting", the court date for Chang Weiping's case is set for July 26. Previously, the court declared that the trial was "not open to the public", and lawyers were required to sign a "confidentiality letter". A series of operations made Chen Zijuan feel somewhat frustrated.

Under the background of China's "clearing" policy, "epidemic prevention" has not ended, and travel between cities is difficult. Since 2022, Shenzhen has also experienced several outbreaks of epidemics. The local requirement is to "leave Shenzhen unless it is necessary." Chen Zijuan is a medical staff. If she wants to leave Shenzhen to go to Fengxian, Shaanxi, she must ask for leave in advance.

She is grateful for her unit. Since Chang Weiping lost her freedom in October 2020, the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Bureau has visited Shenzhen many times to find her. There were several direct trips to the hospital where she worked. In one of them, the person who came to take her to the police station was stopped by the leader of the unit. "We'll give you an office, and you'll ask her there." That time, in the office, the other party questioned her for two full hours.

She is glad that she lives in Shenzhen. As an economically developed city in southern China, civil society can still maintain a certain degree of flexibility compared to inland provinces like Shaanxi.

On the other hand, the hospital where she works is affiliated with the university, and the management personnel are somewhat disgusted by those behaviors that interrupt the normal work and life of the family members every now and then in the name of "handling cases".

After waiting for so long, Wei Ping's case is finally going to trial, which is a major event that has to go. The unit granted leave, and Chen Zijuan was relieved.

She wants to take her son and her mother to Fengxian, more than 1,000 kilometers away. This is a historic event for the whole family, and everyone needs to be there.

She booked a flight at 6:30 a.m. on July 25th so that she could arrive in Baoji early and then transfer to Fengxian County. In addition, the ticket price is also cheap.

We have to leave home at four in the morning. She barely slept that night. Unexpectedly, the early morning flight was cancelled again. In this way, the plane arrived at Xianyang International Airport just after noon on July 25.

At the airport, a friend had already rented a car for her. She searched for a long time at the airport and bought a bunch of flowers. Huge champagne roses, surrounded by gorgeous sunflowers. This is the flower that she and Chang Weiping like.

"The place in Fengxian is too biased. I'm afraid I won't be able to buy flowers." This was her plan at the time.

The flowers are placed on the car, exuding a faint fragrance all the way.

2

She was driving on the highway. It takes about three hours to drive all the way. At the end of last year, "Fengtai Expressway" opened, which is good news for her.

Fengxian County belongs to Baoji, but it is deep in the Qinling Mountains. It is at least three hours' drive away from Baoji. This is when the weather is fine. Every time Chen Zijuan came, she had to go from Xi'an to Baoji, and then go through Qinling Mountains. It would take at least five or six hours for a trip.

This time, almost all the way at high speed, the time was shortened.

On a summer evening, the setting sun is strong, and the distant mountains are clearly defined. The words "Fengxian" appeared under the blue sky. At the exit of the expressway. From a distance, Chen Zijuan found that there was strict inspection at the exit. Generally speaking, the normal epidemic prevention inspection at expressway intersections is to look at the health code, but this time is different. After reading the health code, it is also required to see the ID card. The people in the car were asked to show them all.

She showed her health code and ID card, and soon, someone wearing protective clothing came to her, saying that it was a public security inspection and refused her car to enter Fengxian County. The reason is that "Dongguan" is displayed on her itinerary card. "But Dongguan is a low-risk area." She defended.

She had previously called Baoji Municipal 12345 to inquire about the epidemic prevention policy. The other party clearly told her that her condition met the conditions for traveling in Baoji. At this time, she called again on the spot, and the other party also told her that she met the travel conditions.

However, wearing white protective clothing and masks, the "law enforcement officers" who could not see their faces insisted that they return the same way, otherwise they will be quarantined.

They quarreled. A video documents the process. A chubby young police officer, wearing glasses, not only snapped at her to leave, but kept asking her to stop filming.

She noticed that within ten minutes, in a blink of an eye, several police cars appeared around, some with the words "special police" on them, and after a few minutes, two more ambulances came.

She counted through the car window and there were at least 10 police officers at the scene. A "SWAT" car stopped in front of her car. At this time, she didn't realize that she would be blocked. Soon, a white SUV appeared beside her, blocking her view. Another car stopped behind. To her right is the guardrail of the expressway.

She was stuck in the middle.

3

When the ambulance appeared, Chen Zijuan was a little nervous. What she worries about is that she and her mother and child are forcibly pulled into isolation.

She decided she would never get out of the car again. The two sides are still fighting. Every once in a while, someone knocks on the window and asks her to get out of the car. She refused.

The twilight is gradually coming, and the mountains are hidden in the night. She didn't eat dinner with her mother, children, and friends.

Someone knocked on the window again. She scolded: "Who knows whether you are hooligans, or what kind of people are you in this wild country?" Maybe the other party heard this and knocked on the car window again, turning into two women. She still ignored it.

She wondered how these people knew she was coming to watch the trial. When she left Xianyang Airport, she also set the airplane mode on her mobile phone. Now, how could these little tricks escape the surveillance of Tianluodi.com?

The people outside the window are constantly changing. Some were wearing police uniforms, some were wearing plain clothes, and some were wearing white protective suits. The other party said, "For the health of the people in Fengxian County, you cannot go to Fengxian County." Chen Zijuan, a doctor, almost laughed when she heard this.

Besieged until more than nine o'clock in the evening, she went into a frenzy. scold them. "You detained me illegally! There are 8-year-old children and elderly people in their 60s in the car. If something goes wrong, you must be responsible!"

No one speaks. In the twilight, she couldn't see who's faces. The surrounding cars got on and off, and those figures were silent.

The lawyer brought food. But it was refused to be sent into the car and could only be placed on the side of the road. Those shadows, told the lawyer: "She is dangerous. Don't get close."

She knew they wanted to force her out of the car.

In the white car next to her, she couldn't see the people inside, but someone kept staring at her. On the hood in front of the car, a camera has been pointed towards her.

The night was dark and the child was tired. Thankfully the car was a business Buick with seven seats and the child fell asleep in the back seat.

"If it was a five-seater, I might have to surrender," she said.

After two o'clock in the middle of the night, she was so tired that she squinted in the driver's seat and planned to sleep for a while. At this time, Li Dawei, a citizen who came from other provinces to watch Chang Wei's case, told her on the phone that he lived in a hotel, and the "national security" knocked on the door and told him to go back. He didn't want to, and the two sides were arguing.

She fell asleep listening to the loud noise from the phone. She is so tired. He slept soundly for more than two hours.

4

Its daybreak. After six o'clock, it was another hot day. She wakes up and takes a video. In the distant mountains, at the checkpoint, there was food brought by the lawyer on the hood of the car, but she couldn't go down to get it.

From the day before to now, the few people in the car only ate the Roujiamo and Liangpi that were packed for lunch the day before. Nothing else.

There are still more than two hours before the hearing. She checked it on her mobile phone. The highway intersection is only 4.8 kilometers away from the court. She was thinking, should she get out of the car and walk to the courthouse?

But she soon realized that their purpose was to prevent her from going to court. Once she gets out of the car, there will definitely be a physical conflict, which she doesn't want.

In fact, she knew that even if she went to the court, she could not get close to the court. She originally just wanted to stand at the door of the court and see which direction he came from, so that he might be able to see her, his mother, and the child in the car window, which would give him a little comfort.

After thinking about it, she still gave up the idea of "going over". She knew it was almost impossible.

At nine o'clock in the morning on July 26, the court's case had already started. The car behind her drove away. The other party heard that she could turn around and go to Baoji, but not Fengxian.

She refused, saying, "I'm not going to Baoji, I'm going to Fengxian."

At this point, she had been under siege for about 16 hours. The other party brought water, cucumbers and tomatoes, but they were still beside the car and asked her to go down to get them. She said, "I came to Fengxian to have a court session, not to eat." She didn't get out of the car.

After eleven o'clock in the afternoon, Li Dawei came over, but was followed closely by the national security guard. He brought watermelons, steamed buns, etc., but they could only be placed on the ground and could not be handed to her through the car window.

Meanwhile, at the Fengxian Court, 4.8 kilometers away, the trial was going on and lasted about two and a half hours.

At 12 o'clock, she called the lawyer and knew that the trial was over. The lawyer said that Chang Weiping's condition was okay, but he was thin.

"You wait for me to call again." The lawyer hung up the phone and said, "I'm here, watch Wei Ping get on the bus."

Hearing this, Chen Zijuan couldn't hold back her tears any longer and burst into tears.

5

"He always wanted to go to court in a suit. But this wish could not come true. He wore a white protective suit and went to this ridiculous court." Thinking of this, she felt very sad. "

"Inwardly, I think, he suffered. But this is his destiny, or it can be said that this is his achievement. 'Subversion of state power', such a charge, in this day and age, is his glory. I think , he was sacrificed by this era. But on the other hand, he has entered history." A few days later, when Chen Zijuan thought about this, her heart was no longer just sad. In fact, she had already deeply understood him.

It is also for this reason that she will put on a beautiful dress at the moment when she rushes to the court. "Because I want to witness the process with dignity."

Confined to the car at the moment, she took a video of her eight-year-old son. This is a particularly naughty and clever little boy. In the video captured by her mobile phone, the child shouted loudly while being funny: "My dad is in court, my dad is in court, all stand up!"

At the end of the video, the child asks, "Why can't we go to Feng County?"

"The video I made for my children, some people said, did not show the suffering we suffered. But I think that sometimes life and death are not so important, so we should take it lightly. We are doing the right thing and standing upright. In any case, we stand on the moral high ground, and we are righteous," she said.

"Although I am also saddened and sad because they torture us. But I despise them from the bottom of my heart. Those who act for tigers, in my eyes, are humanoid beasts."

"They are morally incomparable to us in front of us," she said.

This is at noon on July 26, 2022, 4.8 kilometers away, and Chang Weiping's trial has ended. Chen Zijuan, who was blocked at the intersection of Fengxian and told, suddenly opened the car door and walked out, holding the bouquet of flowers that had already been prepared.

Behind her, her son and grandma also got out of the car.

She held the flower, stood at the intersection, gave the phone to her son, and asked the child to take a picture of this scene.

She heard her mother, in her 60s, crying and berating those standing around. "You have wronged Chang Weiping to death! What kind of case are you doing, dare you tell others?"

None of the people surrounding them said a word.

At that moment, Xia Feng was blowing her hair, and the 8-year-old son took this moment for his mother: "Chang Weiping, today your case is in court. Today is your Good Friday and your Glory Day... My kids and I will always support you and we will be waiting for you to come home."

The one minute and four second video is over. The people around seemed to react. A man in a protective suit came over and said to her, "You have to wear a mask and cooperate with epidemic prevention."

She said, "You are committing crimes, do I want to cooperate with you in committing crimes?"

Every person who came up to her, she said loudly: "Please bring your documents and talk to me again." Those people were discouraged. In front of her, no one dared to leave their name.

Half past one noon. Chen Zijuan drove and left the Fengxian Expressway intersection. Return to Baoji. The next day, she rushed back to Shenzhen to go to work.

After filming the video of laying flowers for Chang Weiping, she ate with her mother and child. "We don't need to suffer ourselves," she said with a smile. It was their first meal after being under siege for eighteen hours.

6

On the way back, she missed him all the time. She was thinking that he was indeed a good man, worthy of what she had done for him.

For many years, he has been so "reliable", so excellent and so motivated, and he has never stopped learning. In those years, not long after they graduated from university, they drifted in Beijing, and he went to take various certifications, including securities brokers and so on. He can do the best in any industry and is the best among his peers.

She and he were high school classmates. She remembered today that there were two of the best students in their class back then, and Chang Weiping was one of them. Another classmate, who is now a professor at the most famous university in China, is a party member. "To suit all the needs of this system."

Now, comparing the two, she can know what qualities and personalities she admires and loves.

"What I did today was not because I was Chang Weiping's wife. I loved him. It was entirely because I was also a person. I was very angry because of what these people did. They bullied people home. , and I've been holding on to it," she said.

In October 2020, Chang Weiping was arrested again before his bail period expired. In the beginning, the Shenzhen police knocked on the door twice at night to harass them. She applied for disclosure of information for this purpose. After that, the Shaanxi police went to Shenzhen to look for her nine times before and after, threatening and intimidating her. Every time, she will write all this down and post it on Weibo.

She said she would not be silent. Just as a person, I can't stand those injustices, those evil deeds committed in the name of law enforcement.

She thought of their high school life. In Chongqing, they were just in college and fell in love. His humor often made her laugh.

He has a sunny appearance and has had a resolute look in recent years, but he still has a sensitive and vulnerable side. The two sometimes quarreled, and he was still the big boy who opened the door to run away from home and asked her to coax him.

He is also a soft-hearted man who loves to cry and shed tears at every turn.

In her eyes, he is a person who is not used to injustice, loves the profession of lawyers, and hopes that by representing a case, he can help some people and promote social progress. He's just too invested in the profession of a lawyer.

She also remembered that when they first got married, the two quarreled about such trivial matters as who to go to during the Chinese New Year. In recent years, he has changed, and in these things, he fully respects her. With the contact with some friends who advocate gender equality over the years, he also has a sense of gender equality. In her opinion, this is inevitable, and he already has deep sympathy for the disadvantaged.

She believes he has insight, ideas, action, and courage. "He deserves all the good words," she said.

In fact, it was after his second arrest that she really got to know him. In the past, he was too protective of her, for fear of hurting her, he wouldn't even let her use his own computer.

She remembered that the last time she saw him was in October 2019. He returned to his home in Shenzhen, but soon went on a business trip. In December of that year, he was in Xinjiang, standing on the snow and calling his home a video, saying that he would be back on New Year's Day.

But soon, once again, he called the video and told him that because he had been to Xiamen, several people were being hunted down. After a few days, she could no longer contact him. He was caught.

After 10 days, he was released, and on the phone he told her about his torture. He cried. She also cried.

Since then, she has lived in Shenzhen with her children and the elderly. He is at home. She later learned that he lived alone and had been so lonely and afraid.

The torture, as well as the surveillance and humiliation he suffered after he was released on bail pending trial, all made him suffer in pain, although in the video left during that time, he seemed to be enjoying the pain all the time.

He was afraid of her worries, so he didn't tell her many things, but told his friends. For example, according to the local custom, the parents put the coffin prepared for the old couple in the attic, which made him very scared. For another example, he once avoided the "national security" and drove to the city just to see the fireworks in the city. Because the night in the countryside was too quiet, too dark, and too frightening for him.

He wants to go back to the city. There is his home, there is his job, but he is not allowed. He has been fighting in loneliness.

On October 16, 2020, under what circumstances, he suddenly decided to publish his torture experience . On October 24, he was arrested again.

"Just hold on, isn't the one-year bail period expired?" Someone said. Chen Zijuan also thought about this question.

One of his friends thought that perhaps, there was such an earth-shattering moment that Chang Weiping could no longer bear this painful humiliation. He wants to tell everything that he has encountered, and let it all come to an end.

But there are also signs that, before he announced his torture experience, he may have learned that the relevant parties will continue to "black out" and "manufacture" his case.

In the nearly 10 months he has been released on bail, he has recorded many videos, including one in which he shouted: "Let the storm come more violently."

"Many people are numb and only care about their own gains and losses. He is different." Chen Zijuan said.

In the summer of 2022, Chang Weiping is enduring a thunderstorm in his life with his 38-year-old life. His strength makes Chen Zijuan proud.