(Minghui.org) Three Falun Gong practitioners and a non-practitioner in Tangshan City, Hebei Province stood trial on February 9, 2023. The prosecutor claimed that their efforts in exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) lies against Falun Gong amounted to going against the CCP and violating the law because the Constitution stated clearly that the country is governed by the CCP.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhang Wei and his wife Ms. Guo Yanju, owners of the Zhuoyu Camera Store, were arrested at the store on May 12, 2021 during a police sweep. Their employee, Ms. Sun Baifeng, and a former employee who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, Ms. Zhang Weiqi, were arrested on the same day.
Both Mr. Zhang and Ms. Zhang were released on bail shortly before the hearing, after nearly two years in detention. Ms. Sun and Ms. Guo remain detained.
Prior to the hearing, Ms. Sun’s lawyer visited prosecutor Sun Mingyuan and urged him to release her on bail. Sun held the Falun Gong booklets confiscated from Ms. Sun, slapped them on the table and shouted, “Look at these! These are humiliating us Chinese!”
Sun again accused the Falun Gong practitioners of humiliating Chinese during the hearing. Also holding the booklets in his hand, he said in the court, “All of the content here is against China and against humanity! Isn’t it a typical example when they called the coronavirus pneumonia the “Wuhan Pneumonia”? Isn’t that vilifying China?”
Ms. Sun responded, “The contents in the booklets are teaching people to be good. If you claim that it humiliates and vilifies Chinese, why don’t you pick some paragraphs and read them here?”
While Sun refused to read the booklets, he continued to accuse Falun Gong practitioners of “attacking the Chinese Communist Party and the government” by exposing the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax (in which several people who set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square were labeled as Falun Gong practitioners, but in truth none of them had ever practiced Falun Gong).
Ms. Sun’s lawyer then demanded that the prosecutor play some footage of the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax, yet both Sun and and judge Zhao Ning denied the request, saying that it was not appropriate to play it during the hearing.
Both Ms. Sun and her lawyer also argued that the prosecutor failed to demonstrate which law she had violated by practicing Falun Gong.
Sun replied, “The Constitution started by saying that the country is governed by the Chinese Communist Party. If you are against the Party, you are violating the Constitution.”
He continued to say that due to Falun Gong’s influence in society, the government specifically came up with the charge “undermining law enforcement” to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners.
When presented with the fact that Falun Gong wasn’t included in the cult list identified by the communist regime in 2000, Sun stated, “Not having it on the list doesn’t mean we can’t crack down on it.”
Sun also repeatedly questioned Ms. Sun as to why she didn’t sign the interrogation record. He implied that many Falun Gong practitioners refused to cooperate with the police because of “mental” issues. Ms. Sun’s lawyer attested that it’s his client’s legally protected right to refuse to sign the document.
In his closing statement, Sun threatened to give Ms. Sun and Ms. Guo heavy terms because of their bad attitudes of not pleading guilty.
The lawyer said that he only heard of people receiving leniency for cooperating with the authorities, but that the authorities can’t retaliate against them for not pleading guilty.
Related reports:
Four Hebei Residents Facing Trial—Family Defender Denied Access to Their Case Documents
Tangshan City, Hebei Province: Eight Locals Remain Detained Following Recent Group Arrest
Tangshan City, Hebei Province: 26 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day
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