(Clearwisdom.net) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims that it governs China according to the rule of law. It proclaims this both to the international community and to China's own people. In the persecution of Falun Gong however, so-called “law enforcement” officials often arrest and violently assault lawyers daring to represent Falun Gong practitioners in order to prevent them from speaking in defense of their clients. Such behavior lays bare the ugly truth behind the guise of “rule by the law” that the CCP claims for itself.
Attorneys Assaulted and Arrested
For example, details of the illegal arrests of Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Song Zhiyu and Mr. Wang Yaheng were made public on the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net). Police officers from the Hailar City Domestic Security Division in Hulunber, Inner Mongolia, arrested the two practitioners in December 2010. Zhang Xuzeng, captain of the Domestic Security Division, screamed at Mr. Song's family members, “You are so shameless, you dare to hire attorneys to represent you! We will arrest the lawyers tomorrow.” The following evening, which also happened to be the night before the court hearing, Zhang and others broke into the lawyers' hotel room and assaulted them. They confiscated files, computers, cell phones, and their shoes. On the day of the second hearing, Zhang and others publicly arrested the two lawyers in front of the courthouse.
If it was “shameless” to hire attorneys, what would they call their own behavior of wanton assaults, pillaging, and illegal arrests?
Even more incredibly, the judge turned a blind eye to the law enforcement officials' illegal acts and sentenced the two Falun Gong practitioners to three-and-a-half years in prison. This only underscores the reality that these so-called law enforcement officers are in fact criminals.
Attorneys Arrested and Tortured
In another case, on January 28, 2009, guards from the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp in Chongqing violently beat Mr. Jiang Xiqing, a 66-year-old practitioner from Chongqing, until he was unconscious. The police had him cremated while he was still alive. Mr. Jiang's son hired two attorneys, Zhang Kai and Li Chunfu from Beijing, to represent him in prosecuting the wrongful death of his father.
When the two lawyers went to their client's home, more than two dozen policemen from the Jiangjin District Political and Judiciary Committee, the 610 Office, the Jiangjin Police Sub-Bureau, and the Youxi Police Station illegally arrested and detained the two attorneys. Police hung them up and beat them for more than five hours.
The Chinese law stipulates explicitly that lawyers providing legal services are within the scope of the law; however, these two lawyers who acted in accordance with the law were subjected to beatings by authorities. Furthermore, the authorities responsible for arresting and torturing the attorneys are from the Political and Judiciary Committee and the 610 Office – the same agencies that persecute Falun Gong in the first place. The 610 Office is above any rule of law. The many law enforcement organizations of the CCP simply act as thugs.
Attorneys Interrupted, Assaulted in Courthouse, Tortured with Electric Shock Batons
On April 27, 2007, during the second trial of Ms. Wang Bo, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, several attorneys including Teng Biao, Li Heping, Li Xiongbing, Zhang Lihui, Li Shunzhang, and Wu Hongwei all defended Ms. Wang. The prosecutor and judge constantly interrupted and obstructed the lawyers from speaking. The bailiff assaulted attorney Teng Biao and then threw him into the street. On September 29, in Beijing, some thugs from the police department took attorney Li Heping to a suburb, shocked him with high-voltage electric batons, and beat him for nearly five hours. They ransacked his personal belongings and commanded, “Get out of Beijing!”
In the eyes of the court, the six lawyers who defended Ms. Wang in pleading not guilty had provoked the authorities. Police use electric batons and their fists to tell them: “The Chinese Communists Party decides whether one is guilty or not. Where does the law come in? Court trials are just for show. Your defense makes us very uncomfortable.”
CCP Authorities Fear Their Crimes Will Come to Light
China's lawyer law stipulates clearly that the personal rights of lawyers are not to be violated in their practice of law. Have these law enforcement officers never studied the law? What makes the CCP's law enforcement officers so willing to flagrantly violate the law? The Chinese Constitution provides for freedom of belief; the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong is in itself unconstitutional. In each case of persecution, Falun Gong practitioners are suffering innocently, yet the Chinese Communist authorities hide their evil acts within the scope of the legal system. They fear that the lawyers' defense will allow the grievances of Falun Gong practitioners to come to light, thus making clear the crimes they never hesitated to commit and thus uncovering the truth.
In Mr. Jiang Xiqing's case, he was black and blue all over when he died. The forensic report on Mr. Jiang stated that he had three broken ribs (Nos. 4, 5, and 6), the skin on his chest was black and blue, and there was subcutaneous hemorrhaging, suggesting that police brutality playing a role in his death. Xishanping Forced Labor Camp officials told Mr. Jiang's family on January 28 that he died of a heart attack. The next day they changed their story that he died after undergoing "guasha." Neither one could provide the explanation for the broken rib.
Why was Ms. Wang sentenced? It was because she exposed another shocking scam of the CCP: In the 2001 “Immolation on Tiananmen Square” propaganda stunt, Chen Guo, the woman who was involved in the case, was a classmate of Ms. Wang. Ms. Wang contradicted the official Party propaganda when she told others that Chen had given up practicing Falun Gong after 1999 when the CCP began its persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Wang had also revealed that she was coerced by the authorities to give a false witness in a TV interview when she was imprisoned in a forced labor camp.
The Institute of International Education and Development pointed out long ago that the Tiananmen “self-immolation” was orchestrated by the Chinese Communist regime. Its purpose was to stir up public hatred toward Falun Gong. With the many flaws in the immolation stunt, its true motive has long been recognized. However, the CCP does not allow others to talk about the incident in public as it tries to cover up its lies.
The CCP relies on falsehoods to sustain its violence. It then relies on violence to create terror in maintaining its lies. Covering up the truth has become one of the CCP's primary functions. The CCP thinks it can push back the lawyers with violence in continuing its wanton persecution of good people under the legal system. However, they hardly realize that by doing so, they are destroying the very facade that they need to keep up to maintain its rule.
Related articles:
Practitioners Song Zhiyu and Wang Yaheng Sent to Prison, Their Attorneys Beaten and Arrested (http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2012/1/17/130784.html)
