(Minghui.org) A Hefei City, Anhui Province resident was tried for raising awareness about the persecution of her faith. The presiding judge was surprised to hear how Falun Gong had cured her illnesses and the prosecutor was shocked to learn that the Chinese Publication Bureau has revoked the ban on Falun Gong books.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Kang Qihui was arrested on April 24, 2020 for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police ransacked hers and her two daughters’ homes. Her arrest was quickly approved and she was taken to the Hefei City Women’s Detention Center.
The police submitted Ms. Kang's case to the Shushan District Procuratorate, which indicted her and forwarded her case to the Shushan District Court. Both the Shushan District Procuratorate and Shushan District Court were designated as the main agencies to handle Falun Gong cases in the Hefei region two years ago.
Ms. Kang was tried by the Shushan District Court through video conference on November 27. Her two lawyers entered a not guilty plea for her and refuted the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used by the authorities to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners.
The lawyers pointed out that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China or labeled it as a cult. When the lawyers presented a copy of a Chinese Publication Bureau notice issued in 2011, which revoked the ban on Falun Gong books, the prosecutor was shocked. “You downloaded this from the Internet?” he asked.
After the lawyers confirmed that it was an authentic, official notice, the prosecutor became dejected and mumbled that he and the court “were just following orders from above [in carrying out the persecution].”
Ms. Kang detailed the reason why she started to practice Falun Gong. She said that she used to struggle with poor health and also contracted a rare disease after giving birth to her daughters. She was unable to work. Every day when her daughters came back from school, the first thing they did was to check whether she was still alive. But shortly after she took up Falun Gong, her condition just disappeared.
The presiding judge, Wu Xiaoshui, was so surprised to hear her story that she blurted out, “You said Falun Gong cured your disease?”
Ms. Kang told Wu that practicing Falun Gong not only cured her illnesses, but also improved her character and turned her into a better person.
The judge asked her a few more questions and adjourned the hearing without issuing a verdict.
