(Minghui.org) Practitioners Ms. Liu Cuixian, Ms. Peng Xueping, Ms. Ran Xiaoman, and Ms. Liu Xiaoping of Kunming City were to be tried again at the Lufeng County Court at 8:30 a.m. on May 30, 2013.
First trial
The first trial was held at 8:30 a.m. on May 3, 2013, in the same court. Each family hired an attorney, who pled not guilty on the practitioner's behalf. They each had a family member to represent them in court, but the court, district procuratorate, and Lufeng County Detention Center tried their best to make it harder for the defendants. They would not let the attorneys meet with the defendants until the day of the trial and did not notify the practitioners that each of them had a family member representing them.
The attorneys asked the court to let the persons making the arguments for the defendants be given an opportunity to explain to the defendants their rights in the trial and to learn more about the case from them. However, Judge Li Liangsheng denied their request.
The attorneys petitioned for the public prosecutor, chief procurator, judge, and the head of the court to be recused from the case. The judge acted beyond his authority and denied all the requests on behalf of the chief procurator, procuratorial committee, head of the court, and the judicial committee. Because the attorneys were denied their right to speak for the defendants, they and four family members who were supposed to represent the defendants all refused to participate in the trial and left the courtroom. The trial was held anyway.
Appeal results in a new trial
Afterwards the attorneys appealed to the higher level procuratorate, the court, discipline inspection committee, Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Party committee, and the People’s Assembly, charging that the officials involved had abused their authority and requested that the lawyers’ rights to participate in the trial be upheld.
Thanks to the cooperative work of practitioners, families, attorneys, and the honest people in Yunnan Province, the attorneys were finally able to meet with the detained practitioners and examine their files, and the court scheduled a new trial for 8:30 a.m. on May 30.
Background
Ms. Liu Cuixian, Ms. Peng Xueping, Ms. Ran Xiaoman, and Ms. Liu Xiaoping were distributing Shen Yun DVDs to villagers in Tuo'an Township, Lufeng County, and were reported by the village guard on December 20, 2012. The Domestic Security Division of the County Police Department arrested them and ransacked their homes.
Ms. Liu Cuixian, 58, resided in Hongmiao Village in Kunming City. She began to practice Falun Dafa in 1997. Afterwards all her illnesses went away. Ms. Peng Xueping is her daughter-in-law. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) first began to persecute Falun Gong, Ms. Liu was regarded as a prime target and was closely monitored by the Honglian Police Station (now Zongshuying Police Station). The police repeatedly went to her home to ransack it and hassled her and her family. They never showed any identification or followed any due process.
Ms. Liu Cuixian went to Siying Street in Gaoming County to tell people the facts about Falun Gong on March 1, 2003, and was arrested by officers from the local police station. She was taken to the Gaoming County Detention Center, then to the Kunming City No. 2 Detention Center, and finally to Yunnan Women’s Forced Labor Camp to serve two years.
Ms. Liu went to Lufeng to visit her relatives and tell people the facts about Falun Gong on April 5, 2005. She was reported and arrested, and taken to the Shezi Police Station, and then to the Lufeng County Detention Center, where she was detained for 32 days. She slept on the cold concrete floor and was badly bitten by mosquitoes. She was sore all over and became very weak.
On May 7, 2005, police arrested her again and took her to the Yunnan No. 1 Forced Labor Camp to serve for a year.
Ms. Liu Xiaoping, 56, was a retired lab tester from the Zhuhai City Cookie Factory. She began to practice Falun Dafa in 1998 and has followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. When the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Liu went to Beijing to appeal. She was arrested and taken back to Zhuhai City. She was subjected to brainwashing and had to do slave labor in the detention center. She later moved to Kunming City in Yunnan Province.
Ms. Ran Xiaoman, 41, resided in Wayao Village, Longtou Street, Kunming City. She began to practice Falun Dafa in 2010.
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