(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhong Weiling has been tried three times for practicing Falun Gong. She was sentenced to three years in prison, but the verdict was overturned by the Lianyungang City Intermediate Court on April 10, 2017. She was then retried by the Ganyu District Court on June 16, 2017.
Only a few of Ms. Zhong's friends and family were allowed to attend the trial, and most of the 20 seats were filled with plainclothes police officers. Even though they passed through the security check at the entrance, her relatives were still physically searched.
When Ms. Zhong's attorney protested the illegal body searches, the head of court security said they were conducting a security check. The attorney pointed out that her relatives had already passed the security check, and said, “This is a body search, which is illegal!”
The head of court security did not stop the searches, but instead directed the agents in the court, “Our people are sitting on the perimeter, so focus on the people in the center.”
During the court session, the prosecutor kept looking at the man sitting next to him for direction while Ms. Zhong's attorney presented his defense statement.
Ms. Zhong's attorney pointed out that there is no legal basis for persecuting Falun Gong, and that the former Chinese leader violated the Chinese constitution when he initiated the persecution. The judge and prosecutor claimed they could not stop the head of the nation.
The only evidence the prosecutor presented was empty envelopes, blank postal orders, blank CDs, a cell phone, and some personal items. There were no eyewitnesses for the prosecution.
The prosecutor brought up Ms. Zhong's previous labor camp incarceration as evidence against her. Her attorney argued that the labor camp system had been abolished because it was illegal and a violation of human rights. The court recessed at noon.
Ms. Zhong was emaciated due to persecution in the detention center, and fainted during the trial.
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