(Minghui.org) Three Falun Gong practitioners arrested last September for filing criminal complaints against former Chinese Communist Party dictator Jiang Zemin were charged with “using a cult to undermine law enforcement” and made to stand trial in May.
Mr. Fu Gui, Mr. Li Runtian, and Mr. Long Bingfeng are all from Yueyang, Hunan Province. They were tried individually, on May 19, 20, and 24, respectively.
The court implemented heightened security measures during the three trials. Dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officers, and 610 Office staff were on patrol outside of the court building. They took pictures of passersby and threatened them not to get close to the court building.
Both Mr. Fu and Mr. Li's lawyers argued that there has never been any law that criminalizes Falun Gong, and the persecution is illegal from the onset. Therefore, their clients should never have been prosecuted for exercising their rights to seek justice against Jiang for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong.
Moreover, the Falun Gong related materials confiscated from the practitioners’ homes were their lawful possessions and caused no harm to anyone, let alone undermine law enforcement. As such, the confiscated items shouldn’t be used as prosecution evidence against the practitioners.
The lawyers concluded their defense arguments by demanding their clients’ acquittal.
The third practitioner, Mr. Long, who couldn’t afford a lawyer, defended his own innocence and requested acquittal too.
The judge adjourned all three trials without announcing a verdict.
The attorneys stated during the trial that some evidence presented by the prosecution was obviously fabricated.
During the trial of Mr. Li, the prosecutor charged him with producing a Falun Gong related newsletter that was published on October 23, 2015.
“My client was arrested on September 22, 2015 and has been detained since then, how can he produce a newsletter that was published on October 23?” his lawyer asked.
The prosecutor and judge went silent.
The prosecutor continued to accuse Mr. Li of talking to people about the ancient stone carved with words indicating the elimination of the Chinese Communist Party.
“My client didn't carve the stone, did he?” the lawyer asked the prosecutor. “None of the evidence you submitted is related to the case. My client is innocent and I demand you release him immediately.”
During the cross examination during Mr. Fu's trial, he declared that among the 17 Falun Gong related materials used to charge him, only the criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin and the mail receipt were actually his. He didn't recognize the remaining items, which the police claimed they confiscated from his residence when no one was at home.
When the prosecutor read several confessions from Mr. Fu, he stated that the first confession was extracted by the police through torture. Other confessions submitted to the court were completely made up by the officers, who prepared the confessions themselves and forged Mr. Fu’s signature.
“I never answered any of those questions in those confessions,” Mr. Fu said.
Both Mr. Fu and Mr. Li's lawyers pointed out that it is their constituents' right to file a criminal complaint against Jiang and it is illegal for authorities to intercept their complaint sent through express mail.
“The rule of law spares no one, whether you are an ordinary citizen or the former Party head with power. My client's criminal complaint was not meant to promote Falun Gong, but to document the persecution he suffered as a result of Jiang's infringement of my client’s freedom of belief. His right to sue Jiang must be protected by law,” Mr. Li's lawyer said.
Following their arrest last September, the three practitioners were transferred from a detention center to a brainwashing center and kept there until their trials. They were indicted in December 2015.
Mr. Li's lawyer questioned the prosecutor. “My client was arrested on September 22, 2015, but he didn't receive a warrant for his arrest until more than two months later, more than 20 days after the legally permissive 37-day detention term. Why is that?”
“That was a small mistake on our part,” the prosecutor said.
“You cannot get away so easily with this mistake,” Mr. Li’s lawyer said. “It is something for which you will be held accountable.”
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law now allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
Perpetrators' contact information:
Liao Zhi (廖致), deputy presiding judge: +86-730-8722801 (Office)Liu Xuenong (刘学农), head of Lou District Domestic Security Division: +86-730-8823173, +86-13975020007Li Xiangbin (李湘滨), head of Yueyang City 610 Office: +86-730-8881808, +86-13807301767Fang Yu (方宇), head of Lou District 610 Office: +86-13908405838Chenglingji Police Station: +86-730-8567088, +86-730-8592756