(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners Ms. Liu Cuixian, Ms. Peng Xueping, Ms. Ran Xiaoman, and Ms. Liu Xiaoping were put on trial in the Lufeng County Court in Yunnan on May 3, 2013. The families of the four women hired a lawyer to submit not-guilty pleas, but the trial was adjourned within ten minutes.

Early on the morning of May 3, family members and friends of the four women arrived at the small courthouse to find it crowded with armed military police and officers. Six police stood at the courthouse gate holding guns and another six stood at the courtroom door. This was in addition to officers inside and outside taking photos and videos of attendees.

The court issued only five audit passes to the large group of family members and friends of the practitioners.

Four police cars arrived at the courthouse at 9:00 a.m. with their sirens wailing. The four practitioners were brought into the courtroom through the back door of the building.

Their lawyer submitted not-guilty pleas and queried the court about the legality of the arrests and charges. The chief judge turned red, got angry, and adjourned the court within ten minutes.

Ms. Liu Cuixian, 58, is from Hongmiao Village, Kunming, Yunnan. She started practicing Falun Dafa in 1997 and regained her health. In the early years of the persecution, the Honglian Police Station (now renamed Zongshuying Police Station) harassed her, ransacked her home, and arrested her several times without warrants, showing identification, or presenting legal documents. Ms. Liu was reported to the police when she was talking to people about Falun Gong and the persecution on Siying Street in Songming County on March 1, 2003. She was arrested by the Siying police and held in the Songming Detention Center, and later at the No. 2 Detention Center of Kunming. She was sentenced to forced labor for two years.

Ms. Liu was arrested the second time when she was visiting her relatives in Lufeng on April 5, 2005. She was first detained in the Shezi Police Station and then Lufeng Detention Center for 32 days. In police custody she was made to sleep on a cold cement floor in a room filled mosquitoes and bugs. She was later sent to the No. 1 Forced Labor Camp of Yunnan and imprisoned for one year.

Ms. Peng Xueping is Ms. Liu Cuixian's daughter-in-law.

Ms. Liu Xiaoping, 56, is retired from the Zhuhai Biscuit Factory. She became a Falun Dafa practitioner in 1998. Due to the unjust persecution of Falun Dafa, Ms. Liu went to the Appeals Office in Beijing, was arrested, and then sent back to Zhuhai. There she was subjected to brainwashing and forced labor. She had to shell nuts to be sold as snacks. Later Ms. Liu moved from Zhuhai to Kunming, Yunnan.

Ms. Ran Xiaoman, 41, is a resident of Wayao Village, Longtou Street, Kunming. She started practicing Falun Dafa in 2010.

The four women were arrested when they were distributing Shen Yun DVDs to the villagers in Tuo'an Town, Lufeng County. The Domestic Security Group of Lufeng Police Station searched their homes after the arrests. Although the four families hired a lawyer, he was not allowed to visit or meet with his clients. The Lufeng County Detention Center, Lufeng County Procuratorate, and Lufeng Police Station made sure that he never had that opportunity.

The lawyer filed a formal complaint in Lufeng County regarding the denial of his right as an attorney to consult with his clients at the Yunnan Provincial Procuratorate and the Chuxiong City Procuratorate.