(Minghui.org) Four Falun Gong practitioners from Weinan, Shaanxi, were tried by the Pucheng County Court for distributing materials which exposed the persecution of Falun Gong on April 17, 2013.
The “evidence” presented were items seized from their homes, including Falun Gong books, an e-reader, MP3 players and even the notes reading “Falun Dafa is good” that were written by their grandchildren during calligraphy practice.
When the defense lawyer pointed out that there is no legal basis for the persecution of Falun Gong and that it was his clients' constitutional right to possess the items mentioned above, the presiding judge Zhang Hanlu and prosecutor Chang Shiping were at a loss for words.
Judge Zhang said: “This is beyond our jurisdiction. We have to discuss our decision with the collegial panel.” He then adjourned the trial.
Six months later, 73-year-old Ms. Yang Lianying was sentenced to five years in prison. The other three practitioners had left their hometown before the verdicts were announced, and had to live away from home to avoid persecution.
The above case is not an isolated phenomenon. As more and more rights lawyers stand up to plead not guilty for Falun Gong practitioners, judges and prosecutors often struggle to justify their charges.
Instead of acquitting the practitioners, however, the judges find various excuses to delay the announcement of guilty verdicts pre-determined by authorities, especially the 610 Office – an extra-legal agency that is given power over the entire legal system.
“Discussion with the collegial panel” is one of the commonly tactics used to delay the trial result.
Unlike the judicial system in the US or UK, where the jury is composed of citizens, the collegial panel in China is often composed of three to seven judges who serve the same function.
The collegial panel, however, does not give justification for its verdicts as is required by Chinese law. Like the case mentioned earlier, the wrongly accused practitioners were simply notified of their sentences weeks or months after their trials, without any further explanation.
In the trial of the three Falun Gong practitioners Zhang Peixun, Bao Yongsheng and Li Congfu on June 1, 2009 by the Jinshantun Court, the practitioners' lawyers discovered that none of the case documents given to them were originals and there were no signatures from their clients or interrogators.
One record even implied that the same person was interrogated at two different places at the same time. When questioned about this, public prosecutor Shen Xiangfu had no answer.
The judge soon adjourned the session after agreeing to the lawyers’ request to release their clients.
But when the practitioners’ families went to pick them up after the trial, the judge refused to let them go.
“We need to discuss the verdict with members from the collegial panel.” he said.
Two weeks later, the three practitioners were each handed a heavy sentence of eight years, nine years and eleven years respectively.
In another case of illegal sentencing, a once-happy family was torn apart simply because of a few flyers.
16-year-old Sun Xinjuan placed a few Falun Gong informational flyers in her middle school, hoping to raise awareness about the persecution among her classmates and teachers. However, she was reported to the police by the principal. The police ransacked her home and then arrested her parents, who were also Falun Gong practitioners.
The daughter was released after a month-long incarceration at Linyi Brainwashing Center, but the couple were brought to trial by the police. They were tried by the Tancheng Court in the summer of 2009.
Again, the judge used the excuse of “discussion with the collegial panel” to turn away their family members and adjourn the trial. Eventually, the wife, Ms. Zhang Binglan, was sentenced to eight years in prison, and the husband, Mr. Sun Dejian, was sentenced to three years, with a five-year suspended sentence.
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