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6. Procedure and Prosecution: Flying in the Face of “Rule of Law”
6.1 Lawyers Can Not Plead Innocence For Falun Gong Practitioners
Case1
Regulations from the Bureau of Justice
Based on a Reuters news report (August 24, 1999), the Chinese government has ordered the Chinese lawyers not to plead for Falun Gong practitioners. This order comes from the notices of Bureau of Justice to attorney offices in major cities. The notice also asks every attorney office to report immediately detailed information about every Falun Gong related applicant or inquirer and all answers have to match the ones given by the central government.
The following is the notice from the Judicial Bureau of Beijing City.
“To all Law Firms and District and County Judicial Departments:
All consultations and retainers in regards to Falun Gong issues must be reported promptly. Particular requirements are:
1) In no circumstances a lawyer can accept a retainer by any client involving Falun Gong issues. The case should be reported to the Regulation Section (Phone: 63408078) and it can be decided only after reporting.
2) In any event that consultations are requested by a client involving Falun Gong issues, all attorney offices explanations must conform to the law and be strictly in accordance with the tone of the Central Government.
3) All recent consultations and retainers on Falun Gong issues must be documented and faxed immediate-ly to the Regulation Section on or before Aug. 2, 1999. (Fax: 63408034)”
Case 2
Defense Lawyer Dismissed for Pleading Innocence
Recently the trial of a Falun Gong practitioner Li, Jianhui in Shenzhen city was postponed, because the lawyer wanted to plead not guilty for the defendant. Based on the news from Associate Press (January 26, 2000),
“A leader of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group went on trial Monday after the court prevented him from denying charges of cult activity, a human rights group said.
Li Jianhui’s trial in Futian District Court in the southern city of Shenzhen ended after 2 hours, but no verdict was announced, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said. ...
Li, head of a Falun Gong training center, was arrested in September and charged with “using a cult to under-mine the law,” the Information Center said.
Court authorities dismissed his first defense lawyer, who wanted to enter an innocent plea, the center said. It said that because Falun Gong has been officially labeled a cult, a new court-appointed defense lawyer was told he could only argue for leniency.”
6.2 Falun Gong Practitioners Tried and Sentenced to up to 18 Years Imprisonment for “Using an Evil Sect to Sabotage the Implementation of the Law”
Case 1
Victim: Gao Qiuju (female, 59), manager of a trading company
Location of incident: Dalian City, Liaoning Province
Description:
AFP reported on February 11, 2000 that Gao Qiuju, 59, had been sentenced to 9 years in prison. Gao had been a main contact person for Falun Gong in the city of Dalian since 1994.
Case 2
Message received on February 8, 2000
Victims: Liang Yening (female), Duan Rongxin
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
Description:
On February 1, 2000, Liang Yening and Duan
Rongxin were sentenced to jail for 6 and 8 years, respectively.
Case 3
Message received on February 8, 2000
Victims: Wang Xiaosong, Li Yan, Li Zhijie, Luo Minpu, Liu Tao, Chen Minyong, Jiang Yunhong, and some other Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Chengdu City, Sichuan Province
Description:
Before the Chinese New Year, some practitioners in Chengdu were sentenced. Xiaosong Wang was given a sentence of 7 years in jail. Li Yan, Li Zhijie, and some other practitioners were sent to labor camps without trial.
Luo Minpu and Liu Tao, graduate students of Sichuan Universtiy, and Chen Minyong, graduate student of Sichuan Industrial College, were transferred to Linxia Street Jail of Chengdu City, awaiting severe sentences. They are detained together with murderers, drug dealers, and other criminals. Jiang Yunhong was also transferred to the city jail.
Case 4
Victims:
1. Li Chang (male, 59), leading official of the Computer Bureau of the National Police, the Public Security Ministry;
2. Wang Zhiwen (male, 50), an engineer in a Railways Ministry materials company;
3. Ji Liewu (male, 36), manager of a Hong Kong subsidiary of a Chinese nonferrous metals company
4. Yao Jie (female, 40), chairperson of the Communist Party committee of a large Beijing real estate company.
Location of incident: Beijing’s No.1 Intermediate People’s Court, Beijing
Description:
On December 26, 1999, Chinese government put the four major contact people of Falun Gong on trial in the First Intermediate Court located at the Shijingshan District of Beijing. At 10:00 o’clock, the police blocked the roads within 1 km of the court. The police checked identification cards of all passersby. Once a Falun Gong practitioner was identified, he or she would be immediately arrested. At noon, a large number of police officers appeared outside the First Intermediate Court of Beijing. Many plainclothes agents appeared at the nearby crossroads, subways, and bus stations and searched for Falun Gong practitioners. Many practitioners were arrested and taken to the Shijingshan Stadium. Some practitioners were even taken from their homes to the local police stations. Without an open trial, the First Intermediate Court of Beijing gave jail sentences on that day to Li Chang for 18 years, Wang Zhiwen for 16 years, Ji Liewu for 12 years, and Yao Jie for 7 years.
Case 5
Victim: Yu Changxin (male, 74), professor, a flight instructor at the China Air Force Command Institute
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
January 13, 2000. According to reliable sources, Falun Gong practitioner, Professor Yu Changxin of the China Air Force Command Institute was secretly given a sentence of 17 years in prison on last Thursday by the Air Military Court under the accusation of “supporting Falun Gong”. Many retired generals in air force are very unhappy about the unfair sentence.
74-year-old Yu Changxin started to practice Falun Gong in 1992. His family members said that the Court accused him of helping expand Falun Gong organization and help the founder of Falun Gong to publish his writings. He has already appealed to the Advanced Military Court of People’s Liberation Army.
It was reported that Yu Changxin was an outstanding test pilot in 1970s. His research has tremendously reduced the occurrence of air accidents.
6.3 Practitioners Are Not Allowed to Audit an Open Trial
Case 1
“Auditing” or “Detention”?
The following is based on news sent from China and reported on the overseas Falun Gong Internet web site http://www.minghui.ca.
The trial of four major Falun Gong contact persons (Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen, Ji Liewu and Yao Jie) raised many people’s concern. The tickets for auditing the trial were sold out long before the announcement, which is a phenomenon that has never been seen before, according to an attorney in Beijing.
On the afternoon of December 2, the defenders for the
trial of four Falun Gong contact persons were informed
that the trial scheduled on December 3 was postponed.
On the other side, days before December 2, some policemen told some practitioners that there would be a trial
the next day and asked them whether they would like to
audit. On the night of December 2, many practitioners
were taken to the police station and not allowed to go
out. On December 3, 1999, many practitioners went to
the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court. Some
journalists might have also gone there. All the practitioners who went there were arrested.
On December 2, seven practitioners from Beijing got the same story from the policemen and were offered a ride. On the next day, the police indeed came to pick them up. But the seven practitioners were sent to police station instead of the court. They were detained afterwards.
Case 2
Open Trial?
The following is based on news sent from China and reported on the overseas Falun Gong Internet web site http://www.minghui.ca.
The trial of four major Falun Gong contact persons was scheduled on December 26, 1999 at the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court. On December 24, 1999 many Beijing practitioners received a notice from the police station that there will be a trial the next day and they should not go to the Court to audit. Some practitioners were told to stay at home, some ordered to watch TV report of the trial and some had to go to the police station to report before 9am the next day. Some practitioners were warned by their supervisors that they should not go to audit the trial of four major contact people of Falun Gong. Some practitioners were even taken to the local police stations from their homes.
On December 26, Chinese government put the four major contact people of Falun Gong on trial in the Beijing First Intermediate Court located at the Shijingshan District of Beijing City. At 10:00am, the police blocked the roads to the Court about 1 km away. The police checked the identification cards of all passersby. Once a Falun Gong practitioner was found, he/she was immediately arrested.
At noon, a large number of police officers appeared outside the Beijing First Intermediate Court. Many plain-clothes agents appeared at the nearby crossroads, subways and bus stations to search for Falun Gong practitioners. Many practitioners were arrested and taken to the Shijingshan Stadium.
The trial lasted for only a few hours, with the sentence up to 18 years.
Case 3
Practitioners Tortured for Attempting to Audit
The following is based on news sent from China and reported on the overseas Falun Gong Internet web site http://www.minghui.ca.
Five practitioners were arrested because they had attempted to audit the trial of the four former key contact people of Falun Gong on December 26. Two practitioners were detained in the 3rd cell of Nihe detention center of Shunyi county in Beijing.
Ms. Cheng Fengrong, 42 years old, was one of them. Police slapped Ms. Cheng while handcuffing her to a tree. She was later brutally beaten up by police using a broom. The broom was even broken into two pieces. After she was beaten up, she was forced to stand in the snow barefooted. She was handcuffed to the tree and forced to half squat down. She punched and kicked whenever she could not stand firm. Police also poured two basins of cold water on her back and neck. The cold water froze into ice under her feet. Black spots and purple spots could be found on her legs after two weeks. Some other fellow practitioners who had attempted to audit the trial together with her also suffered physical tortures of various degrees.
Case 4
Reuters News Report on Beijing’s Show Trial
The following is an excerpt from Reuters news “China Begins Key Falun Gong Trial, Security Tight” (December 26, 1999).
Chinese police on Sunday (December 26, 1999) threw a security blanket around a Beijing court and a rights group said four leaders of China’s banned spiritual movement Falun Gong were on trial inside.
Officials could not be reached for comment and telephones in the Beijing Intermediate People’s Court were left unanswered, while police stopped and checked the identities of passers-by.
The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said four Communist Party members -- Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen, Ji Liewu and Yao Jie -- were being tried on charges of ``using a cult to break the law.’’
The four, arrested on July 20, have been accused of masterminding a 10,000-strong Falun Gong protest outside China’s leadership compound in Beijing in April to demand official status for their faith -- an action that led to the movement’s eventual July banning.
State media called the protest ``the most serious political incident’’ since the 1989 student-led demonstrations for democracy that were brutally crushed by the army.
Trial Postponed Twice
The center said the trial had been postponed twice, apparently due to international pressure. At least 20 Falun Gong adherents were rounded up outside the court earlier this month as they showed support for the defendants, it added.
It was not immediately known if any of those questioned by police outside the court on Sunday were practitioners of Falun Gong, which claims a global member-ship of more than 100 million.
6.4 Innocent Falun Gong Practitioners Sent to Labor Camps Without Trial
Case 1
Victims: Li Zhiling (female), Tian Xiuhua, Sui Dali, Chang Yu, Zhang Jiezi
Location of incident: Changchun City, Jilin Province
Description:
Chinese authorities sentenced Li Zhiling and four other Falun Gong practitioners to one year in labor camp without trial or notification of relatives. The five Falun Gong practitioners were detained in Changchun, a city in northeast China, around the 50th anniversary of Communist Party rule on October 1 of 1999. Authorities accused the five of organizing Falun Gong practitioners to go to Beijing to petition the government. When the five refused to plead guilty, police sentenced them to one year in a labor camp.
Case 2
Victims: Wang Yuxiang, Sun Shufeng
Location of incident: Changchun City, Jilin Province
Description:
Wang Yuxiang and Sun Shufeng, who are a couple, went to Beijing to appeal in September. The police sent them back to Changchun before they could appeal. They were detained until October 8 of 1999. On October 13 of 1999, Wang Yuxiang was arrested again and was sentenced to one year of “labor education”. On October 15 of 1999, Sun Shufeng was also arrested and received the same sentence.
Case 3
Message received on January 15, 2000
Victims: Wang Tianyou, Wang Bing, and other four Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province
Description:
In Daqing, 284 practitioners signed an open appealing letter to the Chinese authorities. Their representatives were arrested before they were able to go to Beijing to deliver this letter. The appealing letter and the banner with signatures were also confiscated. Afterwards, many practitioners were detained. Up to January 3, 2000, six practitioners including Wang Tianyou and Wang Bing were given forced “labor education”.
More practitioners from Daqing City have gone to Beijing to appeal by escaping the police’s blocking and interception. Whoever goes to Beijing to appeal will be detained after they are escorted back. Those who refuse to give up Falun Gong after being “educated” (which means physical and mental abuses) will be sent to labor camps. In Ranghu District alone, there are many practitioners who have been detained because they had gone to Beijing to appeal since the mid-December of 1999.
Case 4
Victims: Sun Xiuzhi (female), and many other Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Qiqihar, Liaoyuan, Shenyang, and other northern cities in China
Description:
Based on AFP report, November 23, 1999.
“Nov 23, 1999 -- China has sentenced 12 Falun Gong members to forced labor and arrested five others for trying to sneak information off the spiritual sect’s web site to jailed practitioners, a human rights group said Tuesday.
The 12 sentenced to labor camps were punished for practicing the banned group’s meditation exercises in public, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said in a statement released in Beijing.
They included four members from Qiqihar city in northernmost province of Heilongjiang and eight people from Liaoyuan city in Jilin province.
One of the women, Sun Xiuzhi, was sentenced on Sunday to a women’s labor camp in Jilin’s Changchun city for three years.
The camp currently has 150 Falungong practitioners serving sentences of one to three years, the information center said.”
Case 5
Message received on December 12, 1999
Victim: Zhu Qingxi (male)
Location of incident: Shandong Province
Description:
Zhu Qingxi, a Falun Gong practitioner and a former employee of the Hospital of Dongying Shengli Oil Field in Shandong province, has been sent to a labor camp in Luoyang of Henan province for one-and-a-half year labor education because he practiced Falun Gong exercise on Tainanmen Square in October 1999.
Currently, the Oil Field is detaining several practitioners. One of them has been detained for about 4 months.
Case 6
Message received on December 29, 1999
Victims: Lu Anqiu (male), Deputy Secretary of Tuchen City, Guizhou Province
Location of incident: Xishui County, Guizhou Province
Description:
The Disciplinary Committee of Xishui county of Guizhou province expelled the former Deputy Secretary of Tuchen City, Lu Anqiu, from communist party because he refused to give up his belief in Falun Dafa. The Public Security Bureau decided to sentence him to 3 years in forced labor camp.
Toward the end of 1999, about 20 practitioners had been sent to labor camps. It is said that practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal more than once would be sent directly to a forced labor camp.
Case 7
Message received on February 1, 2000
Victims: Wang Junhua (female), a state official and member of Political Consultative Congress of Mishan
Location of incident: Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province
Description:
About 16 practitioners from Mishan City of Heilongjiang Province were sent to labor camps for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. After those practitioners who had gone to Beijing to appeal were escorted back to their hometowns, male practitioners would be brutally beaten up. In order to get released, they must write a pledge that they would give up Falun Gong and denounce Falun Gong and pay a penalty of 6,000 to 10,000 Yuan. They would be sent to labor camps if they refused to do so.
Ms. Wang Junhua, a state official and a member of the Political Consultative Congress in Mishan City, was given three years of forced “labor education”. She was first arrested on September 24, 1999 just because she told the police that she would continue to practice Falun Gong. She was then detained for 64 days without any legal procedure. On the eleventh day after she was freed, she was again arrested for refusing to promise not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. At the end of December, she was sentenced to labor camp without legal procedure and notification of her families.
In addition, about 29 female practitioners from Jixi City of Heilongjiang Province were sent to labor camps. The number of male practitioners is unknown.
6.5 The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China Guarantees Citizens’ Rights to Appeal
The following are some related articles from the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, 1993.
Article 35
Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.
Article 36
Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief.
No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion.
The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state.
Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.
Article 41
Citizens of the People’s Republic of China have the right to criticize and make suggestions regarding any state organ or functionary. Citizens have the right to make to relevant state organs complaints or charges against, or exposures of, any state organ or functionary for violation of the law or dereliction of duty, but fabrication or distortion of facts for purposes of libel or false incrimination is prohibited.
The state organ concerned must deal with complaints, charges or exposures made by citizens in a responsible manner after ascertaining the facts. No one may suppress such complaints, charges and exposures or retaliate against the citizens making them.
Citizens who have suffered losses as a result of infringement of their civic rights by any state organ or functionary have the right to compensation in accordance with the law.
6.6 A Notice Issued by the Ministry of Public Security of China
The following document is the official guideline for the Chinese law-enforcement in crackdown of Falun Gong. It was provided to us by the Chinese Embassy in the United States.
Pro-Falun Gong Activities Prohibited
The Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China on July 22 issued a notice prohibiting all activities in support of Falun Gong, which was termed illegal and has been banned.
Earlier July 22, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued a decision banning the Research Society of Falun Dafa and the Falun Gong organization under its control after judging them to be illegal.
The Ministry of Public Security in its notice prohibits anyone from hanging up or posting any scrolls, pictures, insignias or other signs in any place that publicize Falun Dafa or Falun Gong.
The notice says that no one is allowed to distribute books and other publications, audiovisual materials or any other propaganda products in any place publicizing Falun Dafa.
The ministry also prohibits anyone from rallying people to “practice Falun Gong in groups,” “publicize Falun Dafa,” or carry out any other activities to propagate Falun Gong.
The ministry prohibits activities that support or publicize Falun Dafa such as holding gatherings, parades, or demonstrations in the form of sit-ins, or by appealing to higher authorities for help.
The notice prohibits all activities that incite disturbances of public order by creating fabrications and distortions of fact, intentionally spreading rumors, or by any other means.
The ministry also bans anyone from organizing, establishing ties for, or conducting any activities which resist related government decisions.
Any violation of these aforementioned regulations will be pursued for criminal liability or given administrative punishment according to the degree of seriousness of each case, the notice says.
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