(Minghui.org) A woman from Inner Mongolia made her eighth appearance before a judge in four months. The latest trial on April 13 again saw the prosecutor fail to present any evidence of criminal activity, and the proceedings were adjourned without a verdict.
Ms. Jia Haiying was arrested last August for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that is persecuted by the Chinese government. She and two other practitioners were first tried in the Holingole City Court on December 15, 2014.
At the latest trial, Ms. Jia was pushed into a makeshift courtroom in a wheelchair, escorted by four police officers.
“Do you admit your guilt?” asked the chief judge.
“I did not commit murder! I did not commit arson! I am not guilty unless it is a crime to be a good person,” replied Ms. Jia.
The evidence presented included a copy of the book Zhuan Falun and an audio recording of Lectures of Falun Gong in Jinan, both published by an officially recognized publishing house before the persecution began in 1999.
“The items confiscated by the police are her personal property, which is protected by the Constitution. In no way are they evidence of her guilt,” argued Ms. Jia's lawyer.
The prosecutor, however, read out the illegal evidence over and over. The defense lawyer then submitted a motion to the judge that the prosecutor be disqualified because he failed to carry out his legal obligation. The motion was denied.
Ms. Jia is charged with “undermining the implementation of law,” Article 300 of China's Criminal Code, which is typically used to charge Falun Gong practitioners.
Originally scheduled for the Holingole City Courthouse, the trial was moved at the last minute to a room in the military police compound next to Holingole Detention Center, where Ms. Jia was detained. Because the room could only hold 15 people, only three of Ms. Jia's immediate family members were allowed inside. The rest of her family and friends waited outside in the cold.
Ms. Jia started practicing Falun Gong in 1996. Because she refuses to give up the practice, she has spent 8 of the last 16 years in prison. She was illegally detained four times, and her home was illegally searched and ransacked five times.
In prison, she was beaten until she bled profusely and then left out in the scorching sun. Prison guards ordered inmates to step on her legs, causing them to fracture. At one time, half of her body was paralyzed due to ill treatment. Ms. Jia returned home in June 2008.
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