(Minghui.org) A second trial of two Falun Gong practitioners from Sanhe City, Hebei Province proceeded in the same way as an earlier trial one month ago–the same judge refused to dismiss evidence extracted by torture and convicted the practitioners for practicing and spreading information about their beliefs.
Ms. Wen Jie and Mr. Ma Weishan were previously tried jointly with two other practitioners following their arrest in April 2014 for sending group text messages to expose the persecution of Falun Gong.
During the second hearing of the joint trial of all four practitioners on July 2, 2015, Mr. Ma dropped his lawyer in hopes of halting the court proceedings after Ms. Wen's lawyer was tossed out of the courthouse for raising objections to violations of trial procedures. Judge Ma Chenghe then announced that Mr. Ma and Ms. Wen would be tried separately.
Ms. Wen and Mr. Ma hired new lawyers for the August 7 trial. The new lawyers made the same defense arguments and argued that the evidence used to charge the practitioners was gathered through torture and coercion while they were in police custody. They also argued that their clients did not violate any law for their spiritual belief, as there is no legal basis for the suppression of Falun Gong.
Judge Ma adjourned the session and announced that a new session would take place later–the same outcome that ended the earlier joint trial of the four practitioners.
Heavy Security Outside Courthouse; Practitioner Arrested
The courthouse was surrounded by a heavy police presence. The heads of the local 610 Office, Domestic Security Division, and Police Department stood at the court's entrance to watch over the situation.
Qiao Chunjiang, a Domestic Security staff member, took pictures and videotaped local residents who came to support the two defendants.
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yang Jianpo was arrested for wearing a t-shirt with with the words “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and “Falun Dafa is good” in front of the court, and was detained for four days at Sanhe Detention Center.
Previous report:
Lawyer Tossed into Street for Protesting Court Violations in Joint Trial of Falun Gong Practitioners
