(Minghui.org) An 85-year-old woman in Maoming City, Guangdong Province, stood trial on December 25, 2023, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.
The Maonan District Court did not allow Ms. Liao Yuying’s family or friends to attend her hearing. There were more than 30 seats in the courtroom and the only spectator was a man whose identity was unknown.
Prosecutor Zeng Zhenqiang (+86-13926708399) from the Maonan District Procuratorate charged Ms. Liao with “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners.
Her two lawyers refuted the allegation as no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult. They also pointed out that, by practicing Falun Gong, Ms. Liao was merely exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief and caused no harm to any individual or society at large, much less undermine the enforcement of any law.
The prosecution evidence included Falun Gong books and informational materials confiscated from Ms. Liao’s home. Her lawyers emphasized that those were her lawfully owned assets and could not be used as evidence against her.
Prosecutor Zeng alleged that the confiscated materials contained anti-CCP propaganda. Ms. Liao’s lawyers countered that they simply raised awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong. They added that the prosecutor could not introduce a new charge (anti-CCP propaganda) while trying to justify an existing charge (“using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement”).”
Ms. Liao also testified in her own defense. Towards the end of the 2.5-hour-long hearing, she felt weak and a doctor took her blood pressure and listened to her heart.
The lawyers noted that the clerk failed to record many of their defense statements so they requested that the court use only the audio recordings of the hearing, not the written court proceedings, to assess a verdict. They also asked to take pictures of the incomplete proceedings but were denied permission. They thus refused to sign the proceedings.
Ms. Liao, who has been out on bail, was released after the hearing.
Harassed Numerous Times While Out on Bail
Ms. Liao was arrested on April 21, 2022, and released on bail hours later. The arresting officers from the Dianbai District Police Department submitted her case to the Dianbai District Procuratorate on April 11, 2023. Her case was then moved to the Maonan District Procuratorate, which indicted her on October 25, 2023, and forwarded her case to the Maonan District Court. Maonan District has been designated to handle local Falun Gong cases.
While Ms. Liao was out on bail, the police harassed her numerous times in an attempt to take her back into custody. They took her for physical examinations on multiple occasions, but she was always found to be in poor health and unfit for detention. She was most recently taken for a physical on August 15, 2023, and the results still showed she had high blood pressure. Her health kept declining due to the relentless harassment. She could not walk or straighten her back.
For details of the police harassment of Ms. Liao, see the reports below.
Related reports:
85-Year-Old Guangdong Woman Indicted for Her Faith in Falun Gong
85-year-old Bedridden Woman Repeatedly Harassed for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Bedridden 85-year-old Woman Not Spared in the Persecution of Falun Gong
84-year-old Woman Harassed for Her Faith, the Fourth Time in a Year
Falun Gong Practitioners in Their 80s Harassed for Their Faith
84-year-old Woman Arrested and Had Her Home Ransacked
Police Break into Elderly Woman’s Home and Change Her Lock Without Her Consent
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