(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Hao Erqin, 75, from Urumqi, was tried at the Saybagh District Court on December 3, 2014, for using paper bills marked with messages about the persecution of Falun Gong. These marked bills are used by practitioners as a means of spreading information covertly.
Mr. Hao was charged with using 327 marked paper bills at several places between March and July 2014.
Mr. Hao asked for two assessors to be members of the collegiate panel. His request was rejected after a five-minute recess. The court only designated one assessor for the trial.
The judge Su Yonghuan ordered the defense attorney to answer only yes or no. The attorney requested that the judge excuse herself because of her attitude towards him.
The trial continued after a 20-minute recess. The judge rescinded her words and the attorney was able to plead not-guilty on behalf of Mr. Hao.
Mr. Hao is a retired employee of the Xinjiang Weather Bureau. He was arrested on July 4, 2014, by officers from the Saybagh District Police Department in Urumqi. He was released on bail because of high blood pressure. The Saybagh District Procuratorate filed charges against him on August 31.
Mr. Hao was sentenced to two years of forced labor in July 2001 for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong.
