(Minghui.org) Two residents of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, were granted a pre-trial meeting ahead of their trial for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
According to insiders, this is the first time that the authorities in Qinhuangdao have granted a pre-trial meeting in Falun Gong cases. Both arrested on July 14, 2023, Ms. Hong Yanrong and Ms. Liang Jun, along with their respective lawyers, went over all prosecution evidence during the pre-trial meeting held at the Funing District Court on January 10, 2024. Judge Shi Wenjing and prosecutor Li Wenming of the Funing District Procuratorate were present too.
Ms. Hong Dismisses Same Court-Appointed Lawyer Again
Ms. Hong had her own lawyer from Beijing so she was surprised to see lawyer Wu at the pre-trial hearing. She had dismissed him a while ago because he was instructed to enter a guilty plea for her. Wu explained that her son invited him back to represent her.
Ms. Hong asked why Wu did not directly talk to her about the legal representation. Wu did not have a good answer and also claimed that he was not sure what kind of plea (guilty or not-guilty) he’d enter because he had not had a chance to go through all the prosecution evidence.
Ms. Hong reminded Wu that all the prosecution evidence was already included in the indictment against her and she wondered how he still did not know what kind of plea to enter for her. Wu didn’t give a direct answer.
Ms. Hong thus requested again to dismiss Wu. Judge Shi asked if Wu agreed to that, and he said it was up to his client whether to remove him. Ms. Hong confirmed her intention and then signed the written records of her verbal conversations with Wu. Wu also signed his name and took a picture of the written records.
Ms. Hong’s Beijing lawyer and Ms. Liang’s lawyer asked judge Shi if she should get Ms. Hong’s son, who had been waiting outside, inside to discuss the matter with his mother and Wu. Shi said there was no need as she respected Ms. Hong’s decision to drop the lawyer.
As Wu walked out of the room, Ms. Hong said to him, “I am not targeting you at all. I knew you were not allowed to defend Falun Gong practitioners’ innocence. I hope you understand that my decision is to safeguard the law and free you from the stress of not being allowed to defend Falun Gong practitioners to the best of your ability.”
Lawyers Refute Questionable Prosecution Evidence
The purpose of the pre-trial meeting was to have the judge, the prosecutor, and the defendants discuss the prosecution evidence and if possible come to a consensus of what is admissible or inadmissible.
Judge Shi asked if Ms. Hong had joined the Falun Gong organization. She replied that Falun Gong had no organization or roster.
Prosecutor Li presented witness accounts, and the two defense lawyers questioned the validity of the testimonies as they noted some suspicious things regarding the timing and the event described. Ms. Hong and Ms. Liang never did the alleged activities at the alleged time. [Due to difficulty in obtaining accurate information in a timely manner in China, Minghui.org correspondents were unable to gather details about the prosecution evidence. It was thus unclear what the actual allegations were against the two practitioners or what the video mentioned below was about.]
Li also included a video to say that Ms. Hong and Ms. Liang had done something somewhere. The lawyers pointed out that the video was very blurry and only showed the backs of two people walking in a certain place. There was no concrete evidence that the two shadows in the video were their clients. Additionally, walking somewhere in itself was not proof that Ms. Hong and Ms. Liang had carried out the alleged actions.
The lawyers questioned whether prosecutor Li and judge Shi had jurisdiction over their clients, who both live in Haigang District, not Funing District.
Targeted Weeks Before Arrests
The arrests of Ms. Hong and Ms. Liang stemmed from a trip they made to the Beidaihe District Police Department in Qinhuangdao City on June 26, 2023. That day, the two of them, as well as Ms. Yu Shuyun, accompanied 78-year-old Ms. Ni Guiyun to the police department to submit letters and information urging the police not to prosecute Ms. Ni for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Liang, Ms. Hong, and Ms. Yu were harassed shortly after they returned home. Ms. Liang and Ms. Hong were arrested on July 14, 2023, and remain in detention as of today. Ms. Yu avoided being arrested because she was not home when the police came. A fourth practitioner, Ms. Gong Junmei, was arrested while visiting Ms. Liang when the police were still searching Ms. Liang’s home. Ms. Gong was released later in the evening due to her poor health.
According to insiders, the authorities targeted Ms. Liang, Ms. Hong, and Ms. Yu because they feared that Falun Gong practitioners were banding together to raise awareness of the persecution ahead of the annual Beidaihe Meeting (also known as the communist regime’s summer summit) to be held in the Beidaihe District in early August 2023. It is common practice for the regime to intensify persecution of Falun Gong practitioners before major political meetings, such as this summer summit, and around anniversaries related to Falun Gong.
Ms. Ni stood trial on September 21, 2023 with no legal representation. She refused to use the court-appointed lawyer as the latter had been instructed to enter a guilty plea for her. She was then barred from using her own non-lawyer defender to represent her. During the hearing, the prosecutor read aloud a list of items confiscated from her home without presenting any evidence in court. The judge did not call any prosecution witnesses to the stand and adjourned the hearing after asking Ms. Ni a few questions. She is now awaiting a verdict.
Related Reports:
Single Mom Faces Indictment for Her Faith—Daughter Calls for Her Release
78-Year-Old Stands Trial for Her Faith with No Legal Representation
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