(Minghui.org) Five Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province residents are facing trial for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Liu Yanhui, Ms. Liu Yuhua, Ms. Zhou Liyun, Ms. Zu Xiangchun and Ms. Wang Jing went to the nearby Baita Village to distribute informational materials about Falun Gong on the evening of December 18, 2021. They were arrested by officers from the Baita Village Police Station and held at the Huludao City Detention Center. They have been indicted and are facing trial by the Lianshan Court.

Ms. Liu Yanhui and Ms. Zhou’s family members twice submitted applications to the Lianshan Court, requesting to represent them in court as non-lawyer defenders. The presiding judge, Zhang Liang, said that he had appointed two lawyers to represent the two practitioners, who had signed the consent form (the practitioners’ families later found out they were deceived into signing the consent). As the court-appointed lawyers were instructed to enter guilty pleas for them, the practitioners’ families were trying to dismiss those two lawyers and represent their loved ones themselves.

Judge Zhang agreed to have the practitioners’ family members talk to them through a video chat on May 23 on whether they would like to dismiss the court-appointed lawyers. If yes, the practitioners could then hire their own lawyers. It remains to be investigated what was decided after the video chat.

Ms. Liu Yanhui, 51, used to suffer from lumbar disc herniation, rheumatism and kidney disease. The physical torment caused her to be in a bad mood most of the time. Her relationship with her husband, mother-in-law and siblings was very tense. Practicing Falun Gong improved her health and turned her into a gentle and considerate person. She was able to repair her strained relationship with her family.

Ms. Liu did Falun Gong exercises outdoors with other practitioners on July 20, 1999, the day when the communist regime ordered the persecution. The police arrested the practitioners and ransacked their homes. The tape player they used to play exercise music was confiscated. Ms. Liu’s manager at work threatened to fire her if she didn’t renounce Falun Gong.

Another practitioner who now faces trial, Ms. Liu Yuhua, took up Falun Gong in 1998. She credits the practice for curing her neurasthenia, stomach problems, and rapid heart rate.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Zhang Liang (张亮), judge of Lianshan Court: +86-429-2164501Zhang Xiaojin (张孝金), prosecutor of Lianshan Procuratorate: +86-429-2659020Ji Shengya (吉圣亚), secretary of Huludao Political and Legal Affairs Committee

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