(Minghui.org) The Sichuan Gulin Court opened a session on November 22, 2012 and illegally tried three Falun Gong practitioners. During the five hour trial, the Falun Gong practitioners and their lawyers gave a complete defense. The public prosecutor and the presiding judge did not respond to the defense or express any opposition. The majority of those present in court were police officers and plainclothes police officers.
The Gulin Court had originally transferred the three practitioners, Mr. Luo Zhenggui, Ms. Zhang Ziqin, and Mr. Shu Anqing, to Luzhou City for a trial on July 12, 2012. The location of the trial was changed around noon on the day before the scheduled date, from the originally decided Luzhou Naxi Court to the Luzhou Naxi Detention Center. Although the location was suddenly changed and it was gloomy and rainy on the day of the trial, many local residents still came to attend the hearing. About 200 people were waiting in the rain. Around noon, the Gulin Court used the excuse that too many people had come for the hearing and canceled the court session scheduled for that day. A few months later, the court opened a session in Gulin and tried this case on November 22, 2012.
Opening the Court Session
About 100 residents from Gulin township, counties and villages in Gulin, and nearby counties and cities who were following this case closely, gathered in front of the Gulin Court around 9 a.m. on November 22 and waited to enter the courthouse. The court session started that day in a unique way, as no one was allowed to enter from the main gate. All who wanted to attend had to go around the court compound and enter from a side door located on a small street. This side door was blocked by a desk and there was only an opening big enough for one person to pass at a time.
After entering through the narrow opening, the residents first had to register with a valid ID and then be searched. Nobody was allowed to enter without an ID, even with a Family Register Booklet. Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Ziqin's elderly mother was not allowed to enter due to her old age. The majority of residents were kept outside of the court compound and only about a dozen people were allowed to enter, which included friends and family of the three practitioners and a few residents. The more than twenty officials inside the courthouse were mostly police officers and plainclothes police officers.
There were many police cars parked outside the court and the patrol police were present. The residents outside of the court were videotaped. The many counties, townships, communities, and street committees of Gulin City sent their staff to stop Falun Gong practitioners from their regions or areas and prevent them from entering the court to attend the hearing. Falun Gong practitioners from Gulin Shibao Township and Longshan Township were kept outside of the courthouse.
Practitioners Defend Themselves with Dignity
The presiding judge, Yang Chunmei (female), announced relevant rules and regulations of the court. The three practitioners took turns defending themselves against the prosecutor's charges. They all denied false testimony in the prosecution and each validated that Falun Dafa is good using their personal experiences in practicing. They confirmed that Falun Dafa is a great Buddha Fa that's beneficial to people physically and mentally. The practitioners each exposed the severe persecution against Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) using their own personal experiences, the illegality of the persecution, and how deceptive it is to the people. The practitioners clarified the truth in court, fully confirmed that the they were not guilty, and demanded to be released immediately.
Mr. Luo is an official of the Gulin Shibao Township government. His wife Ms. Zhang is in the family of the town government authorities. They both used to suffer from many illnesses and had to constantly take Chinese and Western medication for over ten years. Even more unfortunate, Mr. Luo developed gastric cancer, a terminal illness. Poverty and illness had almost destroyed their family.
In 1998 and 1999, the couple started practicing Falun Dafa. In a very short time, their illnesses magically disappeared. Their lives were saved and their family saw hope in their situation. The personal experience of gaining a second life and having a happy family life again made them firmly believe that “Falun Dafa is good.” Yet the CCP persecutes Falun Gong, lies to people, and fabricates stories to slander Falun Gong. The couple took on the responsibility without hesitation to protect Dafa and clarify the truth to people.
Mr. Luo and his wife Ms. Zhang were severely persecuted by the CCP. They were repeatedly detained and their home ransacked. In two years, Mr. Luo was detained three times and forced to go through brainwashing three times. Ms. Zhang was illegally sentenced to four years in prison in 2001. Before her return, Mr. Luo was illegally sentenced to three and a half years in prison in 2003. They each were subjected to devastating brainwashing mentally and severely tortured physically in prison. Ms. Zhang was tortured with more than twenty methods, such as being hung up, handcuffed, tied up, severely beaten, and given injections of unknown drugs. The four years in prison was like hell for her and she barely survived.
While Mr. Luo and Ms. Zhang were both in prison, their two children dropped out of school and worked as migrant workers to make a living. After being released from prison, the couple was still followed, monitored, and continuously harassed. They had no choice but to leave their home. Mr. Luo's retirement wage was taken away from him and even their apartment unit at the township government was unlawfully occupied. The cruel high pressure tactics made Ms. Zhang's father seriously ill to the point of being bedridden. He passed away with fear and worry before Ms. Zhang and Mr. Lou were released from prison. The couple's oldest son passed away alone while away from home because he couldn't afford treatment for his illness. The couple's grandson unfortunately died soon after birth because they couldn't afford emergency care at the hospital. Ms. Zhang's elderly mother had to leave home. The CCP and its judicial system, the prisons, the local Political and Legislative Affairs Committee, and the 610 Office followed and persecuted this couple relentlessly, causing their broken family, lost home, and the separation and death of their family members.
What Mr. Luo and Ms. Zhang have suffered is the true tragedy of life in what the CCP claims to be a “harmonious society” and “legal society.” Mr. Lou and Ms. Zhang clarified the truth in court so that everybody present was clear that they were not the criminals that should be standing there to be tried. Mr. Lou also pointed out the illegality of the persecution against Falun Gong according to the law and the unlawful procedures of the trial. For example, he was not given a receipt for the cash confiscated from him. He demanded that the court uphold justice and immediately withdraw the charges against him, return his apartment unit, and reimburse his retirement payments. Ms. Zhang righteously demanded the court to not illegally sentence the innocent and release her so that she could take care of her elderly mother.
Lawyers Adhere to Justice
The prosecutor accused Mr. Shu and said that they had found on him a DVD that contained the contents of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and Dissolving the Party Culture. It was also said that according to someone's testimony, Mr. Shu had held a training course to teach others how to use a computer and this was used as evidence. The lawyers announced in court that one could not be convicted because of a DVD. If someone was convicted of crimes against humanity and society due to a DVD, it would show how incompetent the judges were.
Mr. Shu started practicing Falun Gong in 1995 while going to college. After graduating, he started working at the Luzhou Electric Power Bureau. After the CCP launched the persecution in 1999, under the high pressure from his workplace, Mr. Shu lost his job and the apartment unit that was allocated to him. His home was illegally ransacked, and he was harassed and subjected to forced labor. He talked in court about the many benefits he had gained from practicing Falun Gong, his being persecuted, and especially the cruel torture he had suffered at the forced labor camp. He exposed that the fabricated “Tiananmen Self -Immolation” case deceived the people, and stated that Falun Gong has no organization and people are free to come and go as they wish. Mr. Shu told the judge that he tried to make a living by fixing electrical appliances and opened a small shop, yet he did not have any peaceful days and was often monitored and followed by officers on motorcycles. He was forced to leave his elderly mother and young child behind and leave home. His father passed away due to fear and worry. He was arrested on November 10, 2011 and had been detained for more than a year. His mother and child had no source of income and he was very worried about them. He demanded that the court release him immediately. Some members of the audience cried after hearing Mr. Shu's statement.
When the two lawyers spoke in defense of the litigants, they first made it clear that “freedom of religion is protected by the law and it's not a crime to practice Falun Gong.” They also said, “Some high ranking officials of the Chinese Central Government and their family members are also practicing Falun Gong” and pointed out that “the prosecutor's allegations do not fit the facts.” The lawyers defended the Falun Gong practitioners powerfully and comprehensively from different angles such as the law and human rights issues, and pleaded not guilty. They also pointed out the illegality and the deceptive nature of the judicial procedures in Gulin, and demanded the practitioners' release.
The lawyers gave examples of trials of Falun Gong practitioners in different regions. Some courts released Falun Gong practitioners right away, some postponed the trials, and even when the Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced in some regional courts, they were released soon after. Their intention was to let the Gulin Court authorities know that they could act in accordance with the law and make the right decision. The lawyers also told the court that they must not “substitute power as the law,” and that the presiding judge would have to face consequences if there were wrongful sentences of practitioners. The presiding judge announced that they would publish the results of the trial on a later date.
The Field of Righteous Thoughts
Gulin is the region in Sichuan Province that's being persecuted most severely. The local Falun Gong practitioners continuously clarify the truth to the officials of the Gulin public security system and the 610 Office using various means. In the past year, they have put in more effort towards this. The members of the audience expressed that Falun Gong practitioners and the lawyers did a great job clarifying the truth in court, comprehensively and thoroughly. Even people who had never heard the truth should have learned about it.
During the trial, Falun Gong practitioners gave a complete account of their true experiences and elaborated on their points of view. The lawyer's defense also went very smoothly. The presiding judge didn't interrupt much during the defense, except to remind them to keep it simple and not to repeat any information. During the trial from 9 a.m. to past 2 p.m., the public prosecutor and the presiding judge remained silent during the defense and didn't respond with any opposition.
The people are awakening, and the officials of the public security system and 610 Office are also awakening. Many officials involved in the persecution of Falun Gong are actually participating passively. At the end of the trial, at the presiding judge's request, the practitioners turned in their written statements responding to the accusations, and the lawyers turned in their written pleadings. Mr. Shu turned in a copy of Shu Anqing's Story in Cultivation to the court. Before the trial, Ms. Zhang rejected the lawyer assigned by the court. Even though she didn't receive any higher education, Ms. Zhang carefully wrote down her own pleadings. These written materials are historical testimonials of Falun Gong practitioners clarifying the truth in court to save people, and proof of the lawyers upholding justice and adhering to their conscience during the darkest time of the Chinese Communist regime's red terror.