(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Hu Rongying was tried in Henan Jiyuan City Court on the afternoon of July 18, 2013. Ms. Hu's family hired an honest and ethical lawyer to defend her innocence. The lawyer refuted every piece of so-called evidence presented by the prosecutor. His speech won applause in the courtroom. Ms. Hu's family members questioned the judge after the trial, “Ms. Hu is innocent. We won the case. She should be acquitted. Why are you still detaining her?”
Ms. Hu Rongying, a woman in her sixties, had suffered from uterine cancer. She was cured after practicing Falun Gong. She shared her experience with others and told people that Falun Gong was good. When Ms. Hu went to Nanrui Village, Lilin Town, Jiyuan City in early October 2012, to tell people the facts about Falun Gong and to give people DVDs with truth about the practice, she was reported to the authorities. Lilin Community police arrested her and detained her in Jiyuan Detention Center.
During the past ten months, the 610 Office and the public security department in Jiyuan conspired to hold a trial and convict Ms. Hu. They also interfered with Ms. Hu's defense attorney. Up until the very moment the trial was held at 4:30 p.m. on July 18, 2013, Ms. Hu's lawyer received no notice of the trial from the Jiyuan City Court. He found out the trial time by calling the court himself.
In the court, the lawyer made a strong case for Ms. Hu's innocence. He reasoned from different angles that Ms. Hu had done nothing wrong by cultivating Falun Gong. He pointed out that the indictment was wrong in itself, as it forced on Ms. Hu a charge that didn't exist under the Criminal Law, and was thus ridiculous. The prosecutor was so nervous upon hearing the lawyer's strong arguments that his face turned yellow. When he read the indictment, he mumbled with his face almost touching the paper. In contrast, the Ms. Hu's lawyer was forthright, and Ms. Hu spoke loudly and clearly. The court was very quiet as everyone listened to the lawyer's defense statements.
The judge interrupted the lawyer's defense speech sixteen times, and even claimed that “the court is not a place to discuss legal principles.” Ms. Hu's lawyer immediately disputed this, “This is the first time I've ever heard that legal principles cannot be discussed in a court room.” Though he was interrupted again and again as he made his defense statement, he had no fear. He stood up for his rights and managed to finish his statement and enter a “not guilty” plea.
The attorney's statement drew applause from more than twenty of Ms. Hu's family members in the gallery. The trial continued until 7:30 p.m. before being adjourned. Ms. Hu's family members questioned the judge, “Ms. Hu is innocent. Based on the evidence, we should have won the case. Ms. Hu should be acquitted. Why don't you release her?” They questioned the prosecutor, “Ms. Hu is innocent. Why do you pursue her?” The prosecutor looked pale and withdrew.
After the judge left the courtroom from a side door, he stayed in his office upstairs. When a family member of Ms. Hu's called him, he first asked, “Have you all left yet?” When he was asked when the verdict would be announced, he was evasive, “In maybe two to three days, or two to three months.”
The Chinese Communist Party's Political and Legal Affairs Committee and 610 Office manipulate the local courts in trials of Falun Gong practitioners. The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) judicial system has no independent authority and is a tool used to persecute people. The charges and convictions are fixed in advance by the 610 Office and the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. The judge is just a CCP puppet, and trials are mere formalities which deceive the public. The trumped-up charges that accuse Falun Gong practitioners are often based upon Article 300 of China's Criminal Law, i.e., “Using superstitious sects [cults] to undermine the implementation of the law.”
Falun Gong teaches people to be good. Practitioners are free to practice or not to practice Falun Gong. It has nothing to do with being a cult. The CCP persecutes people and brainwashes people with media propaganda, so actually, the CCP could be considered a cult. The CCP courts have never specified how Falun Gong “undermines the implementation of the law,” nor which law is undermined by Falun Gong. The CCP manipulates the courts, twisting the law to persecute innocent practitioners, thus undermining the law. Ms. Hu Rongying's trial was no exception.
