(Minghui.org) Many Falun Gong practitioners have hired lawyers to defend practitioners facing trial and in some cases they have filed lawsuits against the perpetrators of the persecution. They do so to create an opportunity to explain the facts about Falun Gong, save sentient beings, and help practitioners who have been persecuted. I would like to share my thoughts and understanding about engaging in the judicial system to clarify the truth.

Many lawyers believe that practitioners' family members should play the main roles in the legal process, such as confirming that the arrest was or was not approved, monitoring transfer of the case to the procuratorate, and being present at the trial. They can request the practitioner's release, clarify the truth, and use legal means to delay the process, which could lead to the practitioner's release.

We can, for example, clarify the truth to the police at the outset and tell them that they are committing a crime by persecuting an innocent person. If the police understand the truth, they may release the practitioner right then.

If the case is sent to the procuratorate, we can help the prosecutors understand the truth. In some cases they may refuse to prosecute the case, sending it back to the police for lack of evidence. If the police have no real evidence, the practitioners might soon be released.

The same applies when the practitioner is brought to trial. If the judge returns the case to the procuratorate, there is a possibility that the practitioner will be released. At the trial, if the lawyers boycott the hearing or the practitioners refuse to agree to the hearing, the case might be stalled.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controls all legal procedures in China. This situation is difficult to break through without strong righteous thoughts. Thus I believe that before the trial actually occurs, the role of lawyers is best limited to providing legal advice. Before the trial, I believe that it is practitioners and family members that play the most important roles.

The trial is, as I understand it, the final battleground between good and evil. The evil forces muster a lot of power and effort. And practitioners bring righteous power and righteous effort. This is the stage where the lawyers can play an important role.

It seems that practitioners have different ideas about the role of lawyers.

Lawyers defend practitioners based on the law. Anything that interferes with their carrying out their duty should not be accepted. According to Supreme Court rules, lawyers are not required to go through a security check to enter the courtroom. But many courts have insisted that practitioners' lawyers pass through a security check.

Some practitioners think the real goal of the trial is to clarify the truth to the judge and other officials in order to save them. So they think that the lawyers should cooperate with the security check. If the lawyer is able to clarify the truth effectively during the trial, more sentient beings will be saved. Cooperating with the security check avoids irritating the CCP personnel and thus makes it easier for them to accept the truth. It may also benefit the practitioners on trial.

On the other hand, the lawyers are not legally bound to cooperate with these unauthorized security checks and have the right to refuse to enter. This can achieve multiple goals:• the lawyer's position is made clear,• the spectators realize that the court has broken the law,• and the trial may be halted since the appointed defense is absent.Taking this understanding a little further... the trial itself is illegal. The perpetrators have no right to judge practitioners, so the practitioners and lawyers should not cooperate at all.

If the attorneys agree to the security check, it indirectly acknowledges the authority of the CCP. If the trial continues without the defense lawyer in the courtroom, it is an embarrassment to the CCP.

If the lawyer can enter the court without a security check, the lawyer has an advantage. If the lawyer does not compromise, this will have a better effect when he clarifies the truth to the court officials. That way we can still achieve the goal of saving sentient beings.

While the decision of which way to go should be left up to the persecuted practitioner, my personal view is that we should not cooperate with unreasonable court requests.

We understand based on the Fa that we must eliminate the evil without any compromise. The evil is already very weak and those who do evil in the human world are receiving retribution for their misdeeds. Practitioners face several choices: sparing no effort to eliminate the evil without compromise, avoiding the evil, or getting into a cycle of being persecuted, sentenced to prison, released from prison, and persecuted again.

As I see it, we should use the opportunity of engaging in the judicial system to completely eliminate the evil, not cooperate with the evil, and not give it any chance to recover. We do not acknowledge the old forces' arrangement. We should absolutely deny the CCP's so-called rules and laws used to persecute practitioners.

We know that the CCP's intentions are evil, and we go to court to eliminate the evil and save sentient beings. We do not seek justice in the human world. If all of us refuse to cooperate with the evil, the local Fa-rectification situation will fundamentally change. Sentient beings will be saved on a much larger scale. Everyone in the judicial system will know that Falun Gong practitioners are honest and innocent and absolutely will not cooperate with the CCP.

If local practitioners fail to consistently abide by the Fa principles and sometimes cooperate with the authorities, the evil may sometimes achieve its goals. The local Fa-rectification situation may not go in the right direction. Practitioners may continue to be harassed, and fewer sentient beings may be saved.

When Falun Gong practitioners are persecuted in the CCP judicial system, I believe that it is not just the persecution of individuals anymore, it is the persecution of Falun Gong as a whole. It will affect the local Fa-rectification situation. We must do things considering the effect on the whole. Whatever stage we are in or which CCP department we deal with, we should not follow the CCP's orders. We must eliminate the evil, sparing no effort, using the Fa-rectification principles.