(Minghui.org) When Mr. Cheng Yongyue was tried for practicing Falun Gong, his defense lawyers pleaded not guilty and argued that he had committed no crime because the Chinese Constitution guarantees citizens the freedom of belief.
Mr. Cheng was arrested on September 18, 2014. As a result, he lost his job, and his wife filed for divorce.
Mr. Cheng, in his fifties, was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and heavy shackles. He looked extremely weak and had noticeable swelling around his cheekbones, which suggested that he may have been tortured while being held at Taiyuan Detention Center.
When Mr. Cheng's lawyers argued that practicing Falun Gong is not illegal, the public prosecutor claimed that it is illegal to urge people to withdraw their memberships in the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations.
The trial took place on February 12, 2014 at Jiancaoping Court in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.
Mr. Cheng had previously been sentenced to six years by the same court in November 2004. He was tortured at Jinzhong Prison for refusing to give into the authorities' demands to renounce his belief in Falun Gong.
