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If Courts Try Falun Gong Practitioners for Their Beliefs, They Should Follow the Law and Allow Cross-Examination and Debate

January 21, 2012 |   By a Falun Gong Practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) When a court in the Chinese Communist regime tries Falun Gong practitioners, the prosecutors resort to obscure and deceitful means to impose false charges that result in unjust and illegal sentences. The so-called evidence presented fails to prove that Falun Gong practitioners have violated any law. If they have the audacity to try Falun Gong practitioners for their religious beliefs, the law requires that they must follow standard legal procedures and allow for a proper defense to be presented. The CCP authorities dare not allow this, however, since their sham practices could not stand up to it.

When tried in court, Falun Gong practitioners try to explain that they have not committed any crime or violated any law. They also speak out about the false propaganda against Falun Gong that is so widely spread in China.

For example, one of the most effective pieces of hate propaganda against Falun Gong alleges that Falun Gong practitioners “followed Falun Gong's teachings” to set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square on the eve of the Chinese New Year in 2001. However, a frame-by-frame analysis of CCTV video footage shows that Ms. Liu Chunling, who the propaganda claims committed suicide, was killed by a man who attacked her with a club. Another alleged to have tried to commit suicide was a child, Ms. Liu Siying. The CCTV propaganda video about the immolation claimed to show Ms. Liu Siying singing in the hospital. Remarkably, this was just after she had undergone surgery opening a hole in her trachea. How could she be singing? A man named Liu Jindong who looked completely burned in the video, had put a plastic bottle allegedly containing gasoline between his legs, yet it survived the immolation completely intact. The many loopholes in the video footage were powerful evidence that the self-immolation incident was staged as a propaganda stunt to turn public opinion against Falun Gong. If Falun Gong practitioners had not produced materials documenting the obvious holes in the self-immolation propaganda story, countless people would still wrongly believe that Falun Gong practitioners had set themselves on fire that day.

A book entitled Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party is often presented in court as “evidence” to try Falun Gong practitioners. However, the book contains no more than historical facts about the Communist Party. The facts were not made up; they can be verified. In addition, there is no law banning the book. Why would it be a violation of the law to hand out or read the book?

Nevertheless, the Nine Commentaries and other materials containing important facts about Falun Gong are often presented as “evidence”. How would passing out these materials for free, or reading them, be against the law? Isn’t it ridiculous to use them as evidence in a court of law?

Moreover, the prosecutors have never described specifically what these materials are. They described the evidence as "Falun Gong materials" or "Falun Gong DVDs." The description goes to show that they have the audacity to prosecute Falun Gong practitioners, but do not have the courage to discuss the evidence. Would this be because showing the full contents of the “evidence” would reveal that the “self immolation” was a propaganda stunt? Would it be because discussing the contents of the Nine Commentaries could only embarrass and frighten the CCP authorities and court officials?

It does not make any logical sense for the prosecutor to accuse Falun Gong of being a heretical organization, but not have the courage to allow people to learn what Falun Gong is truly about. Hiding the contents of the evidence only helps to show that Falun Gong is innocent. If the accusation should be true, then the prosecutors should welcome the opportunity to show the contents of the evidence. The fact that both prosecutors and judges avoid looking at the contents or showing the contents of the "Falun Gong materials" shows that the accusations are groundless.

Crimes can only be committed if an illegal act is committed. Falun Gong practitioners are not criminals. In fact, Falun Gong practitioners are victims, not offenders. Instead of being tried for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong, practitioners should file complaints against the prosecutors.