(Minghui.org) On September 19, 2012, Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Cai Shuxia, Mr. Xie Jinde, Ms. Liu Changmei and Ms. Zhao Lan were subjected to an illegally-conducted trial, and pleaded not guilty as they were defended by their lawyer. The lawyer requested the practitioners' immediate release. He also stated that law enforcement officers, officers from the Procuratorate and judges in this case were suspected of impeding justice. The four practitioners had been illegally detained for over four months at that time.
During the trial, the four practitioners were handcuffed and shackled. Their lawyer requested their removal, but the judge denied the request. The judge repeatedly interrupted the defense lawyer during his statements. He also deprived practitioners of their rights to make statements during the trial. In this so-called “public” trial, only three of the practitioners' relatives were allowed to enter the courtroom.
At approximately 8:00 a.m. on May 27, 2012, Mr. Xie Jinde took three other practitioners to Feiketu in his car. The three female practitioners then got out and distributed DVDs of the Shen Yun Performing Arts show. They were reported to police, arrested, and then taken to the Acheng Detention Center. The driver, Mr. Xie, hadn't stepped out of his car nor handed out DVDs, but he was also arrested.
During the trial on September 19, the prosecutor presented testimony from a witness, but the four practitioners simultaneously pointed out that the testimony was false, since Mr. Xie never got out of his car or handed out DVDs. They questioned where the prosecution's witness came from, and the defense lawyer requested to question the witness. However, the prosecutor and Li Jianguang (possibly the judge’s name) denied this legal request.
A relative of Mr. Xie realized that the court officials were conspiring to falsely incriminate the practitioners and requested to make a statement, but his request was also denied by the court.
During the debate stage of the trial, the prosecutor presented a statement from Acheng Domestic Security Unit which claimed that the DVDs distributed by the practitioners contained lyrics referring to heaven, and scenes of police officers wearing clothes with a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) symbol striking Falun Gong practitioners. The prosecutor claimed that this represented evidence of a crime. The defense lawyer requested the confiscated DVD be shown in court, but was denied. The lawyer then claimed that if the prosecutor could not provide the DVDs that were confiscated, the evidence must then have been destroyed and the prosecutor was guilty of destroying evidence.
The defense lawyer argued that producing and distributing Falun Gong media were rights associated with freedom of belief. The law prohibits producing and distributing media of cults, not Falun Gong; these two things were different and unrelated.
The lawyer also alleged that law enforcement officers, Procuratorate officers and judges in this case were guilty of impeding justice. The officers implicated include Yang Ziheng, Hang Yuguo, Yu Huacheng, Sheng Jinbo, Tian Shouyang, Luan Xifeng and prosecuting officer Gong Jinguang.
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