(Clearwisdom.net) One local practitioner in our city was illegally arrested on July 20, 2009, and his home was ransacked the next afternoon. The local court soon announced that it would try this practitioner.
Everything Dafa disciples encounter contains elements for our cultivation and improvement. Our local practitioners decided to seize this opportunity and work together well, intensifying sending forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate all evil factors hovering over the courtroom. At the same time, we made up our minds to keep up our efforts to clarify the facts and saving sentient beings. In the past, it was always the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that determined the outcome when practitioners were tried. This time around we discussed among ourselves whether or not to hire a lawyer to defend this practitioner. During the process, the trial date was postponed over and over again. We figured it must be because we were still hesitant about whether or not to hire an attorney.
Just when we were still unsure about what to do, Master's "Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Minghui Website's Founding" was published. Regarding hiring lawyers to defend practitioners are Master's following two passages:
"Hiring an attorney and making a defense in court can itself thus serve to save people. Whoever attends the court hearing, be it someone sent by the wicked CCP or an ordinary citizen, is going to hear the facts clarified when presented with the lawyers' just reasoning. Doesn't it serve to bring out the goodness in such people? Some judges have fallen silent as they listened, hanging their heads. And some police have even had admiration afterwards, saying things like, "Well said!" when they left the courthouse. That meant that these people's goodness was awakened. What is it that the evil fears? Isn't it exactly this that they fear? That's why I think that hiring lawyers is necessary."
"Taking legal action can really serve to expose the evil, save sentient beings, and protect Dafa disciples. If the local Dafa disciples can arrive at a clear understanding of the matter, and if you all can work together well carrying it out, then I think your effort would be a good thing."
Through studying Master's new teachings, we came to see that the purpose of hiring attorneys to defend practitioners was to save sentient beings and that we should not be fixated on the potential outcome. If the lawyer can defend the practitioner in court and make it clear that, by law, it is legal for practitioners to cultivate Dafa, then that would be a new way to clarify the facts and save sentient beings. We were determined to hire an attorney to defend our fellow practitioner. However, we went through a lot of ups and downs during the whole process. Three days before the scheduled trial date, the lawyer we intended to hire was still several thousands of miles away, having to deal with his cases at hand. We were clear in our understanding that there was nothing wrong with validating Dafa. The court didn't dare to publicly announce the trial date, and we knew the evil had now become frightened. We strengthened our belief in Master and we were certain we would succeed in hiring the lawyer.
The trial date was set and the lawyer was able to get to our city the night before. The next morning he arrived at the court, with only two hours to review the case and prepare his defense of the arrested practitioner.
At that point, many local practitioners gathered around the courthouse to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all evil factors preventing the lawyer from defending the practitioner, as well as those bad elements behind all the judges and prosecutors (whom we also had a responsibility to save). At the beginning of the trial, the presiding judge and the chief prosecutor were very aggressive, but soon their speech began to falter. In the end they lowered their voices and the atmosphere inside the courtroom became calm and peaceful. There was even one person in the audience shouting, "He should be acquitted and released!" This was a manifestation of us working together as a group and sending forth righteous thoughts in close proximity.
The practitioner's lawyer said, "Freedom of belief is a right everyone has as soon as he or she is born. Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution makes it clear that freedom of belief is protected. It is legal for people to promote what they believe in, and it is voluntary for people to choose what they want to believe in.
"It is our understanding that having one's own belief does not constitute a crime. Crimes are about visible things, such as people's behaviors. When it comes to spiritual things, there is nothing the government and law can do. No proof exists indicating that Dafa materials and CDs or copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party do any harm to society. It is perfectly normal for people with belief to put their thoughts in writing."
Faced with people from all walks of life in the courtroom, the lawyer concluded, "People are free to have their belief, and Falun Gong is innocent."
The lawyer's defense had a great impact on the practitioner's family. Both he and his wife practice Falun Gong. Over the years, their family members and relatives had a lot of misunderstandings about or had even distanced themselves from the couple. This time when this practitioner was arrested, not only did many of them completely ignore his arrest, but they also had hatred and complaints. After hearing the lawyer's defense, they came to realize that the Chinese Constitution clearly protects freedom of belief. Nowhere in any published legal documents can one find regulations indicating that Falun Gong is against the law. Cultivating Falun Gong violates no law whatsoever, and Falun Gong is being unjustly accused. This practitioner's family at last understood that he didn't commit any crimes. At the same time, they felt they had been deceived by the CCP's lies and were furious. Right there in the courtroom they questioned those involved in the persecution of their relative. After they returned home, they called the detained practitioner to comfort him.
Throughout the whole process, every practitioner involved also felt this was a rare cultivation opportunity for them to remove a lot of fear. For instance, many of us were concerned that going to court might expose us to the authorities and lead to our own persecution. Instead, it turned out to be a powerful experience, an opportunity to send forth righteous thoughts right in the presence of the judge and the prosecutor as the trial took place.
This unexpected outcome of of this trial was the saving of sentient beings. In addition to Dafa disciples, there were over 40 non-practitioners present in the courtroom, and they all listened to nearly two hours of defense of Falun Gong, which revealed the truth about Falun Gong and was backed up with the actual law.