(Minghui.org) The Second Criminal Court of the Haidian District Court in Beijing opened a trial against Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Xu Kun on the morning of April 8, 2015. The lawyer made a strong defense on behalf of Ms. Xu. Although the judge had nothing to counter the lawyer's arguments, he still sentenced her to three years in prison.
Ms. Xu was arrested on July 17, 2014, for handing a DVD about the facts of Falun Gong to police officer Liang Yaqi in her residential area.
Ms. Xu Kun
Practitioners Have the Legal Right to Distribute Falun Gong Materials
Ms. Xu Kun was taken into the courtroom in shackles.
Ms. Xu's lawyer requested that the DVD be played and that the arresting officer be called to the stand for cross examination, but Judge Li Yuanxuan ruled against the requests.
The lawyer then demanded that the prosecutor explain which parties had been harmed, and to explain what damages those items had caused to society or to specific people. The prosecutor was unable to provide an answer. The lawyer concluded, "Therefore, there is no victim in this case."
The lawyer stressed that to spread information about Falun Gong should not be cause for a conviction, because it is Ms. Xu's right, her freedom of belief, protected by the Chinese Constitution. The lawyer brought up examples, such as Buddhism-related signs in Tibet that tourists can find everywhere in Tibet.
The lawyer argued that the charge against Ms. Xu, "sabotaging the implementation of law by using cult organization," was not legally grounded and should not be applied to Ms. Xu's case.
Again, the prosecutor and the judge were speechless.
"The Forced Labor Camp System Itself Is Illegal"
With regard to the charge in the indictment that Ms. Xu had been sentenced to forced labor twice and “showed no regret for her criminal past,” the lawyer pointed out that the forced labor camp itself was against international law and forbidden in the Chinese Constitution. It was so strongly condemned by the international community that it had been abolished. Ms. Xu's two forced labor sentences, instead of being her "criminal records," were exactly the illicit record of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its law enforcement and judiciary organizations. The lawyer argued that using the forced labor conviction as “evidence” was itself an abuse of the law.
The judge and prosecutors were unable to mount any response to the lawyer's arguments.
Ms. Xu Kun also spoke in her own defense and for Falun Dafa. The judge interrupted many times. In the end, in what was clearly a predetermined decision, the judge illegally sentenced Ms. Xu to three years of imprisonment.
Related report: Thoughtful Gift Results in Jail Time for Beijing Woman
