(Clearwisdom.net) Following the arrest of practitioners on March 17, 2009, local practitioners in Jianyang City made a great effort to rescue them and tell people about Falun Gong and the persecution. Although the Communist regime's court officials eventually pronounced heavy sentences, we refused to accept the persecution and are doing everything we can to expose the injustice. We are hereby summarizing our efforts to hire lawyers to defend the practitioners in court.
Following the arrest of the practitioners, a family member hired a local lawyer. Although the lawyer knew a bit about Dafa and the persecution, his mind was still polluted by the CCP's lies. He did not dare to listen to additional factual information. He was not prepared to defend the practitioners' innocence; instead, he told the practitioners to plead guilty and petition for leniency.
Practitioners eventually helped other family members to hire three lawyers from Beijing, Hebei and Henan provinces. They knew about Dafa and the persecution and were sympathetic toward the practitioners. Another practitioner's family did not hire any lawyer, for fear of retaliation at the hands of the regime.
The three lawyers defended the practitioners, entering a plea of innocence. Inspired by practitioners' righteous thoughts and the other lawyers' courage, the local lawyer changed his mind and defended his client, declaring the practitioner innocent.
Practitioners told the judge and the audience about Dafa's benefits to their personal lives during the court hearing and insisted that their cultivation practice and telling people about Dafa are not against the law. The practitioners also exposed the torture they suffered at the hands of the police, especially the brutality of policeman Li Sen in the Erehu Brainwashing Center. Even the head judge admitted that a confession and so-called evidence collected under torture is inadmissible in court.
Many family members were present during the court hearing on December 8, 2009. Practitioners also called the absent family members and encouraged them to come to the court.
The trial lasted from 11:00 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. Although undercover policemen were taping the court proceedings, people were not in the least intimidated. A lawyer even challenged the head judge, insisting to know who was taping the proceedings. Faced with the practitioners and the lawyers' strong righteous minds, the head judge and public prosecutor appeared uncomfortable. During a short afternoon break, a few practitioners briefly lost their focus and started holding small talk and not sending righteous thoughts. Once other practitioners reminded them, everyone began to pay attention. In any case, the practitioners' overall effort had a good effect.
We had kept low key this time regarding the defense lawyer entering a plea of innocence for practitioners before the trial. That way, the lawyers faced less interference and lower pressure. We also did not want to alert the persecutors ahead of time, so that more practitioners and family members could attend the trial.
When we had previously told people the information about Falun Gong, certain people refused to listen. They thought we were telling them our own version of these stories. Now they heard the defense lawyers saying the same thing in court, and their prejudices were shaken. When a few family members heard the lawyer defending the practitioners' innocence in the court, they especially began to appreciate the practitioners' efforts, and their fear of the CCP was reduced.
Once the trial date was set, practitioners sent out a large number of instant text messages to local people, many doing this simultaneously at different locations with several cell phones. Tens of thousands of messages were sent, informing people, "Jianyang City Court is scheduled to have an open court trial of Falun Gong practitioners on a certain day of a certain month. Well-known lawyers from Beijing and other cities will defend them. You are invited to attend the trial as a member of the audience."
This was the first time lawyers defended Falun Gong practitioners as "innocent," and people were curious about the court arguments and outcome. On the evening before the trial, practitioners posted information of the Spanish court's indictment of Jiang Zemin and four other officials everywhere in town, and called on people to rescue the Falun Gong practitioners. We even put up flyers at the court-house entrance. Practitioners also continuously sent righteous thought to clear interfering factors from other dimensions.
Following the court trial, the evil forces thought they could relax, as the "big case" was finally over. But practitioners should not feel that way. This is a good time to further tell people about Dafa.
This latest development is still "hot" in Jianyang. We should publicize how the lawyers defended the practitioners. We can use instant messages, phone calls, letters, posters and pamphlets to inform the people of the "not-guilty" defense. Anything short of that will compromise our prior effort.
We would like to remind practitioners who will hire lawyers: it is absolutely critical to thoroughly inform them of the truth about Dafa. We should not simply focus on the well-known lawyers. We should seek out more lawyers who are willing to defend Falun Gong practitioners. We should get their consent before using their names in our reports. We should care about their personal safety. The lawyers told us that the regime-appointed prosecutors were afraid of the practitioners' efforts to inform them of Falun Dafa and the persecution, and that these prosecutors did not even dare to tell the lawyers their cell phone numbers. In many instances, the regime's prosecutors did not even want to sign legal documents. The lawyer also said that wherever practitioners did well in explaining the facts, their defense was easier.
