Lawyer Removed from Courtroom and Threatened with Arrest in Trial of Falun Gong Practitioners

(Minghui.org) Three Falun Gong practitioners from Huaihua, Hunan Province were tried by Yongding District Court, Zhangjiajie City on April 12, 2016 after eight months of detainment.

Ms. Li Baoxing, Ms. Jin Fuwan, and Ms. Deng Yueer each hired a lawyer to represent them. However, the lawyers' rights were seriously violated. One was removed from the courtroom as he was defending his client's constitutional right to freedom of belief.

The lawyer was later allowed back inside, only to be threatened with arrest by the prosecutor if he continued to argue for his client's acquittal.

The judge adjourned the session without issuing a verdict.

No Legal Basis for Trial

Defense attorneys made the case that there has never been any law that criminalizes Falun Gong; hence, their clients should never have been prosecuted for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of belief.

They stated that China's judicial institutions have placed themselves against human rights and the country’s Constitution for treating Falun Gong practitioners’ activities as illegal for over 15 years.

No Valid Evidence

The prosecutor never presented any valid evidence against the defendants. What they showed was only the Falun Gong materials they confiscated.

The defense attorneys stated that those materials were personal and lawful possessions and caused no harm to anyone in society.

Lawyer Removed from Courtroom

One of the defense lawyers was removed from the courtroom when he rebutted the charges against his client and demanded acquittal. Outside the courtroom, a group of officials surrounded him and demanded that he agree with their way of thinking when he spoke in court. At the insistence of the other defense attorneys, the judge allowed him back inside.

Then the prosecutor threatened to arrest the same lawyer as he continued to press for acquittal. The judge didn't stop the prosecutor until the other two lawyers protested.

Practitioners Prevented from Attending the Hearing

Yang Jun, head of the local 610 Office, and deputy director Yang Hua commanded a group of police officers to search Falun Gong practitioners who were on a train and prevented them from attending the hearing.

Three practitioners from Huaihua were body checked and forced to get off the train after their belongings were confiscated.

Police Versus Attendees

The trial started at 9:00am and ended at 4:20pm. An hour before the trial, the courtyard was densely filled with plainclothes police, who prevented people from going inside.

Less than 20 people, including the three practitioners' family members and friends, were allowed to enter. About 60 police officers were seated in the front and back, and sandwiched the attendees in the middle.

With at least 70 percent of the seats empty, many were forbidden entry.

Background

The three practitioners and their driver talked to people about Falun Gong while they traveled through the Yongding District, Zhangjiajie City on August 20, 2015.

Someone who were deceived by the CCP's lies reported them to the police. The Yongding District Procuratorate approved their arrests on September 25, 2015.

However, the files were returned to the police department due to insufficient evidence and unclear facts. The police department added materials and resubmitted the files three weeks later.

The Procuratorate submitted the case to the Yongding District Court on January 21, 2016.

The Yongding District Court held the trial session on April 12, 2016.

Related Report:Three Practitioners Face Illegal Trial by the Yongding District Court

Partial List of the Persecutors at Yongding District Court in Zhangjiajie City:

President, Mei Zhongcai, [phone]Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Xiang Yanzhong, [phone]Judge, Xiang Hong, [phone]Judge, Tan Yanyun, [phone]Judge, Zhao Xueji, [phone]Judge, Wang Hongying, [phone]Judge, Zhang Ying, [phone]Judge: Yin Nana, [phone]