(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Han Xiufang, He Yuhu, Jin Yinwu, and Feng Caihong from Huining County, Baiyin, Gansu Province, were arrested last September by the Huining County Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the 610 Office, and the Domestic Security Bureau. They have been detained ever since. During that time, the 610 Office forced the Procuratorate to accept the charges and trial records that the officials had fabricated.
The practitioners' families hired attorneys in Beijing to defend them. During the time that the Procuratorate was investigating, local practitioners clarified the truth widely. The attorney's defense is that practicing Falun Gong is totally legal in China. Distributing Falun Gong materials is exercising freedom of speech and should be protected by law. So the Huining Procuratorate rejected the cases twice due to lack of evidence of any wrongdoing.
The Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office director forced the Procuratorate to hand over the cases to the court and pressured the court. They also sued the attorney illegally, trying to stop him from helping the practitioners.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) always handles Falun Gong practitioners' trials secretively, because it fears people knowing about the persecution. After the time and location of the trial were announced, they tried their best to prevent practitioners and their family members from attending.
On February 28, 2012, the Huining Court put practitioners He Yuhu, Han Xiufang, Jin Yinwu, and Feng Caihong on trial. The whole of Huining County geared up as if taking on a powerful enemy. It set up barricades 100 meters around the courthouse. There were police checkpoints at each intersection. Drivers coming into town and all hotel guests were subject to questioning. The CCP did their best to stop people from observing in the courtroom.
The attorney defending He Yuhu and others pointed out in court that there is no law in China that names Falun Gong as an evil cult, so practicing Falun Gong in China is completely legal and persecuting Falun Gong is therefore illegal and against the constitution.
The attorney pointed out that the charge of “preventing implementation of the law” could not be established. He stated that the practitioners never violated any law, and they should all be released.
After such a reasonable defense, the public prosecutor did not know what to say, and the judges were silent as well.
In the end, another attorney asked the judge to make a just decision based on conscience, saying, "In the face of evil, if you keep silent, you are assisting the evil. If you sentence an innocent person, whatever the reason, it is a crime and is also against your conscience. So, judges, please respect citizens' rights, accept your historical responsibilities, face the reality and your conscience, and based on law, release the defendants with no charges.”
The judges quickly ended the trial.
In May 2012, the practitioners' families located the Huining Court judges and asked why their family members were still in detention, since they were clearly not guilty of any wrongdoing. A judge said that the Baiyin Intermediate Court refused to release them. Baiyin Intermediate Court officials claimed that it was not a matter for their court, that it belonged to Huining. The families went back to the Huining judges, who would not give an answer.
Ms. Han Xiufang is in her 50s. After she began her practice of Falun Gong and always considered others first, all her illnesses disappeared. She became very optimistic, and everyone knew her as a good person. Now she is detained, and her husband has not been able to get home. Their elderly mother became sick over the news of the detainment. She is unable to eat or sleep and cries frequently. Other family members now have to take care of her.
According to Criminal Law 168, court cases should be processed within a month, and no later than 45 days. Regarding conditions mentioned in Provision 126, a decision could be prolonged for another month with approval of the supreme court of the province, autonomous regions, and municipalities.
CCP personnel in Huining have violated the law in the arrest and detainment of Falun Gong practitioners, including Han Xiufang, He Yuhu, Jin Yinwu and Feng Caihong.
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