Judge Files Complaint Against Lawyer for Defending Falun Gong Practitioner in Court

(Minghui.org) Two months after a Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province resident stood trial for her faith in Falun Gong, the presiding judge in charge of her case filed a complaint against her lawyer, seeking to remove the lawyer from her case. Ms. Wang Hua’s family suspected that the judge was retaliating against the lawyer for challenging her various violations of legal procedures in handling Ms. Wang’s case.

Ms. Wang was arrested on July 5, 2021 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. The Lianhu District Court originally scheduled a hearing for March 22, 2022, but postponed it until August 12 due to a local outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

At the beginning of the hearing, the lawyer demanded that the bailiffs remove Ms. Wang’s handcuffs and shackles, but was rejected by judge Quan Borong, who claimed that it wasn’t convenient to do so during the pandemic. The lawyer then asked the clerk to record the judge’s remarks in the court proceedings, but was rejected by the judge too.

The lawyer then asked Ms. Wang whether she had been notified of the hearing three days ahead of time, as required by law. She said she was never told any information about the session.

The lawyer also asked Ms. Wang why she practiced Falun Gong and what benefits she had experienced. Before the lawyer finished the question, judge Quan stopped him from talking. She also denounced the lawyer’s request for the clerk to record the interruption in the court proceedings.

The lawyer asked prosecutor Chen Bo why he only presented photos of the evidence, without showing the actual items. The prosecutor replied that the evidence stayed with the police and he didn’t have it.

The lawyer argued that if the police didn’t submit actual evidence to the prosecutor, how could he verify the items and their quantities? He questioned if Ms. Wang was indicted simply based on a few photos.

After the hearing, the lawyer asked to meet with Ms. Wang for her to sign his power of attorney, as the detention center had blocked him from meeting with her in person, but the judge again rejected him.

In the complaint filed with the local justice bureau and bar association, judge Quan accused the lawyer of insisting that Falun Gong wasn’t a cult, and asking Ms. Wang to sign the power of attorney after the hearing. Meanwhile, Quan also found Ms. Wang’s family and questioned them as to whether they hired the lawyer themselves and how much he charged to handle the case.

The Lianhu District Court is one of the three courts designated to handle Falun Gong cases in Xi’an City. The other two courts are Yanta District Court and Baqiao District Court. In addition to Ms. Wang’s case, judge Quan has also tried three practitioners, including Ms. Li Xuesong, Ms. Ma Yunhua, and Ms. Lyu Anmin. Among them, Ms. Ma was sentenced to nine years with a 20,000-yuan fine and Ms. Lyu was given three years. Ms. Li is still awaiting verdict.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Quan Borong (权波蓉), judge, Lianhu District Court: [phone], [phone], [phone]Chen Bo (陈博), prosecutor, Lianhu District Procuratorate: [phone]Zhang Peng (张鹏), president, Lianhu District Court: [phone]Hu Xiaojing (胡晓静), president, Lianhu District Procuratorate: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related reports:

Shaanxi Woman Stands Trial for Her Faith, Prosecution Evidence Not Presented in Court

Having Served Three Years Behind Bars, Shaanxi Woman Faces Prison Sentence Again for Her Faith