(Minghui.org) Two women in Deyang City were tried for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. Their lawyers entered not guilty pleas for them, and one of the women's husbands also testified in her defense.
Ms. Zhang Xingfeng and Ms. Cai Xingbi were seized on September 5, 2017, after they gave a plainclothes officer an anti-firewall software and urged him to use it to get around government firewalls to read uncensored reports about Falun Gong.
Prosecutor Li Hai filed an indictment against the two Falun Gong practitioners and forwarded the case to Jingyang District Court in April 2018.
Ms. Zhang and Ms. Cai appeared in court on August 2. Prosecutor Li accused them of “using a cult to undermine law enforcement.” He was unable to specify which law has criminalized or labeled Falun Gong a cult.
The defense lawyers pointed out that the police were not wearing uniforms and did not produce any search warrants when ransacking Ms. Zhang and Ms. Cai's homes. The police also didn't ask the practitioners' families to sign the lists of confiscated items as required by law.
The lawyers also argued that the confiscated Falun Gong materials were all lawful possessions of their clients and caused no harm to anyone, much less undermine law enforcement.
Ms. Cai's husband testified in his wife's defense.
He said, “Cai Xingbi used to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and couldn't even hold chopsticks in her hands. She also had breast cancer. As a truck driver, I was not home most of the time. My father was in his 80s and my daughter was still in elementary school. Fortunately, my wife came across Falun Gong and soon became healthy enough to care for herself, our daughter, and my father. I no longer had to worry about home while on the road. My father said to me before he died, 'You must not let down your wife and you must treat her well.' Falun Gong returned my wife to health and turned her into such a filial daughter-in-law. How can Falun Gong be bad?”
Both he and the lawyers demanded the two practitioners' acquittal. Judge Du Li announced that the sentencing hearing was scheduled for August 6.
