(Clearwisdom.net) Defense counsel Mr. Ravi, who represents Singapore Falun Gong practitioners in their protest case in front of the Chinese Embassy, held a public hearing on September 1, 2006 at the Furama Hotel in Singapore. He elaborated the many kinds of unfair treatment against Falun Gong practitioners in the court.
Mr. Ravi believes that the court deprived his two clients of a fair trial. He will mail the video of the public hearing to the United Nations. He hopes the United Nations will intervene and require Singapore to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
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This is reportedly the first similar public hearing held by a local lawyer.
There were three agendas at the hearing: First, discrimination in the procedure of the court. Second, Singapore media’s misleading reports. Third, illegal treatment of an innocent elderly woman.
1. Discrimination in the Procedure of the Court
When more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners from seven countries went to the Singapore High Court to attend a hearing on the mornings of August 30-31, 2006, they had all their belongings related to Falun Gong, including books and other materials withheld at the entrance to the Supreme Court Building. The security guards also took down their particular information or passport numbers and contact numbers.
Mr. Ravi said that withholding Falun Gong practitioners’ books in the Supreme Court is tantamount to withholding Christians’ bibles. It is a serious discrimination.
Falun Gong practitioners from all these countries went to the embassies and consulates of their respective countries in Singapore to clarify the truth and hoped that they would pay attention to this issue.
2. Misleading Reports in the Singapore Media
Falun Gong practitioners pointed out the serious errors appearing in reports on the case in the two largest circulation newspapers in Singapore, The Straits Times (English newspaper) and Lianhe Zaobao (Chinese-language newspaper).
Falun Gong practitioners said that both newspapers incorrectly reported the content of the banner displayed outside the Chinese Embassy. The writing on the banner actually says, "Hunger Strike on July 20 to Protest the CCP’s Inhumane Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners (in Chinese) / Stop Persecution of Falun Gong in China (in English)." However, the Lianhe Zaobao’s report on August 29 replaced ‘CCP(Chinese Communist Party)’ with ‘China,’ and ‘inhumane’ (灭绝人性) persecution with persecution of "annihilating tolerant hearts/destroying tolerance (灭绝忍心)." While in The Straits Times’ report on August 29, the word, "inhumane" was left out, and "Stop persecution" was replaced with "Stop prosecution."
Falun Gong practitioners said that the focal point of the case is whether or not the writing on the banner regarding the persecution of Falun Gong is factually correct. The banner, as the evidence of the prosecution, was displayed twice in court to all the media present. Therefore, there should not be such incorrect reports.
It is learned that Falun Gong practitioners went to the reporter of The Straits Times, requesting a correction of the error in the key words. The reporter agreed to make the correction in his report the next day. But the report (by a different reporter) on September 1, The Straits Times still used "prosecution" instead of "persecution."
The differences are small, but the implications of these changes are huge. The entire context of the articles is changed in a way grossly misleading to the reader.
3. Illegal Treatment of an Innocent 73-year-old Woman
Seventy-three-year-old woman Mdm. Chen Peiyu recounted the unfair treatment against her before and after she was expelled at the public hearing. Mdm. Chen Peiyu told the reporter that the Chinese Communist Party exerts pressure to the Singapore Government to oppress Falun Gong, so that she was targeted by the Singapore government for actively distributing materials telling people about the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Mr. Ravi said he will hold several more public hearings, and Singapore is the first stop. He will go to Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia to hold public hearings.
