(Clearwisdom.net) Officials from the Haidian District Court in Beijing had originally scheduled a court hearing for Ms. Liang Bo, a lecturer from Minzu University, at 9:30 a.m. on September 8, 2010. Her family members and friends were prevented from entering the court. The trial was moved to a smaller courtroom and the court hearing times were changed.
Ms. Liang was arrested by officers from Haidian Public Security Bureau on May 20, 2010. Officer Dong Yongping verbally abused and brutally beat Ms. Liang, and deprived her of sleep. Dong also sat on her chest, fracturing her ribs and causing internal bleeding.
More than 20 of Ms. Liang's relatives and friends came to the court, but were denied entry to the courtroom. Only the defense lawyers Li Subin and Chen Hai were allowed in. The trial was due to start at 9:30 a.m., but at 9:40 a.m. someone announced that Ms. Liang had still not arrived from the detention center. A further announcement was made at 10:00 a.m. stating the courtroom was now required for another session. The trial was then moved to another, smaller courtroom.
Court officials arranged for two young men to sit along the back row of the public gallery and prevented Ms. Liang's family members from sitting in the front row, stating that the seats were reserved for the police only. When Ms. Liang's family members said they could stand at the back if there were no seats, the judge shouted and threatened them, "If you don't get out, we will take measures that will not be favorable for you." Police officers were then ordered to forcibly remove Ms. Liang's family members from the courtroom.
Two of Ms. Liang's relatives were eventually allowed into the courtroom after repeated appeals, but her mother and husband were still denied entry. Six police officers guarded the courtroom entrance as Ms. Liang's family members continued to appeal to the court officials. The trial finally started at 10:20 a.m. Judge You Tao violated the civil rights of people wanting to sit in the public gallery, a right guaranteed in China's Constitution.
Judge You Tao forbade Ms. Liang's defense lawyers from mentioning Falun Gong in court, but the prosecution was allowed to make accusations against Ms. Liang without providing any evidence to support their claims. The prosecutor said that officers had found twenty Falun Gong books and over ten truth-clarification CDs in her bag. When the defense lawyer asked the prosecution to present the bag that Ms. Liang had allegedly used, the prosecutor quickly changed the subject, and Judge You Tao did not request the prosecution to present the bag either.
When the prosecutor accused Ms. Liang of using a cult to sabotage the implementation of law, the defense lawyer asked him to cite the law that stipulates that Falun Gong is a cult. The prosecutor could not do so. Judge You Tao banged his gavel so hard on the table that even people outside the courtroom could hear it. The lawyer suggested that You Tao should not hit the table so hard and that his behavior was extremely uncivilized and somewhat threatening. You Tao ordered the lawyer to leave the courtroom and the court was adjourned.
When the two people who were sitting in the public gallery emerged during the adjournment, one of them claimed that he was pretending to be Ms. Liang's husband. When Ms. Liang's husband questioned them as to why they were doing this, they said that the court had told them to do so. When other people heard that they were working for the court, the two men quickly left and re-entered through a back door when the court reconvened.
When a defense lawyer asked for evidence of the prosecutor's accusations, the judge stopped him. But when the prosecutor asked the defense lawyer to provide evidence to prove that the prosecutor made false accusations against Ms. Liang, the judge reinforced that request. When Ms. Liang told the court about the benefits she had gained from practicing Falun Gong, judge You Tao stopped her from talking. The court was adjourned three times, and the trial did not finish until 12:20 p.m. The court did not announce any verdict.
Haidian District Court: 86-10-62697085, 62697361, 62697687
You Tao, chief judge, Haidian District Court
Chen Lei, section head
Haidian Procuratorate: 86-10-82644513
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