Judge Tries to Lure Falun Gong Practitioner into Pleading Guilty in Exchange for a Lighter Sentence

(Minghui.org) A woman in Pingdu City, Shandong Province, stood trial on May 13, 2022, for practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Ma Qin’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. The judge attempted to lure her into pleading guilty by promising a lighter sentence. She refused to comply and maintained that she wouldn’t give up her faith.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Ma Qin

Ms. Ma, a 53-year-old former schoolteacher, was arrested near her home on March 28, 2021. She has been held at the Qingdao City No.2 Detention Center ever since.

The Huangdao District Court heard Ms. Ma’s case in the detention center on May 13, 2022. The judge, Ou Xiaobin, initially refused to allow Ms. Ma’s family to attend the hearing. After Ms. Ma’s lawyer argued for over an hour, the judge allowed her son to attend, only to remove him halfway through the proceedings, citing the excuse that he was listed as a prosecution witness. Ms. Ma’s sister also asked to attend, but judge Ou, who cited the pandemic as an excuse, turned her down.

During the hearing, Ms. Ma recounted how she was tormented by severe psoriasis before practicing Falun Gong. She went all over the country looking for a cure. But after spending all of her savings (over 300,000 yuan), she hadn’t improved much at all. Her health instead continued to decline. Shortly after she took up Falun Gong, the condition disappeared. But now, after several months of detention and not being allowed to practice Falun Gong, her condition relapsed.

Judge Ou asked Ms. Ma if she would like to stop practicing Falun Gong, saying that, if she did, she would give her a lighter prison term. Ms. Ma responded, “Falun Gong teaches people to be good. It is a very good practice.” She reaffirmed that she wouldn’t renounce her faith.

Ms. Ma’s lawyer argued that it was her freedom of belief to practice Falun Gong. He said that the prosecutor had failed to demonstrate how Ms. Ma had violated the law or what harm she had caused. He demanded that the judge acquit Ms. Ma.

Dai Yufang of the Pingdu City 610 Office and Liu Jie of the Domestic Security Office went to the detention center on the day of Ms. Ma’s hearing. Her family suspects that the two were involved in determining the outcome of Ms. Ma’s case.

Ms. Ma’s lawyer told the family that, as soon as he agreed to take Ms. Ma’s case, judge Ou called him and asked if he would enter a not guilty plea for Ms. Ma. When the lawyer replied that he hadn’t decided yet, the judge said, “Let me tell you, Falun Gong is a cult. You can’t enter a not guilty plea for her.” The lawyer replied, “I have a right to an independent defense.”

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Guo Yucheng (国玉成), deputy head of the Pingdu City 610 Office: [phone], [phone]Li Faqi (李法岐), deputy head of the Pingdu City 610 Office: [phone], [phone]Dai Yugang (代玉刚), staff member, the Pingdu City 610 Office: [phone]Yin Chongmiao (尹崇淼), court clerkSun Jie (孙杰), prosecutor

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

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