(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Yuling was tried in the Taishan District Court in Tai'an City, Shandong Province on July 5, 2016, for filing criminal complaints against former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin, who initiated the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999.
The trial began at 9:00 a.m. and lasted two hours. Ms. Li's family members and five practitioners were able to attend the trial. Also present were five officials from the Taishan District Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office.
In her opening remark, Judge Zhang Li repeated the Communist Party's attacks on Falun Gong as an “evil cult” without citing any relevant laws, and tried to force Ms. Li into making a guilty plea.
Ms. Li's attorney asserted that the judge had no legal ground to make a conclusion about Falun Gong and asked that she recuse herself from the case. The session was adjourned for ten minutes.
When the trial resumed, Ms. Li entered a not-guilty plea and stated that Falun Gong teaches people to be kind and honest. She argued that she did not commit a crime when she filed her complaints against Jiang, as Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases.
She further argued that the police were the ones who broke the law when they broke into her home without proper identification or a warrant, ransacked the place, and arrested her.
Ms. Li's attorney stated that it is his client's constitutional right to practice Falun Gong, and that the government had violated Article 251 of the criminal law, “illegally depriving citizens' freedom of religion.”
Ms. Li, 60, retired from the Dahe Mill in Tai'an City. She was arrested by officers from the Taishan District Domestic Security Division and the 610 Office on November 25, 2015. Her arrest was formally approved on December 31, 2015.
The Taishan District Procuratorate returned Ms. Li's case to the Taishan District Police Department twice due to lack of evidence. Domestic Security officers harassed Ms. Li's family members on multiple occasions.
Liu Yufeng and Wu Weidong from the Taishan District Procuratorate handled Ms. Li's case. The presiding judge at the trial was Wang Haifeng, while the other judges were Shen Yuxian and Zhang Li. The clerk was Cui Qili.
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
Perpetrators' contact information:Liu Guofeng (刘国锋), president of Taishan District Court: +86-538-8625101Wang Haifeng (王海峰), presiding judge of Taishan District Court: +86-538-8625170Shen Yuxian (申玉贤), judge of Taishan District Court: +86-538-8625121Zhang Li (张莉), judge of Taishan District Court: +86-538-8625173Wang Zeng'ai (王增爱), attorney general of Taishan District Procuratorate: +86-538-3011617Yang Qidian (杨启典), chief of Taishan District Police Department: +86-538-8225172, +86-18615389777Yao Guangfu (姚广富), captain of Taishan District Domestic Security Division: +86-18653898522
Related report: Shandong Woman Who Sued Jiang Zemin Faces Trial