(Minghui.org) Ms. Yang Tianliu, a Falun Gong practitioner from Changsha, Hunan Province, was tried in Changsha County Court on February 22, 2017, for hanging up banners to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong. Her lawyer defended her innocence.
During the trial, prosecutor Li Dongnan stated that Ms. Yang was recorded by surveillance cameras hanging up two banners reading “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Li played the video of Ms. Yang hanging up the banners and her leaving home, as well as her walking to the bus station and taking the bus to return home.
Li also listed a dozen witnesses of her hanging the banners and presented Falun Gong books and related materials that were confiscated from Ms. Yang's home.
Ms. Yang said she put up the banners to let the public know the facts about the practice, which didn't violate any laws.
Ms. Yang's lawyer argued that the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement” had nothing to do with Falun Gong. He said that practicing Falun Gong amounts to exercising one's freedom of belief and should be protected by law. He noted that his client's decision to hang up her up banners was based on good intentions and that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are positive, universal values.
He emphasized that his client's actions did not violate any laws. He pointed out that no law in China specifically states that it is illegal to practice Falun Gong, so there is no legal basis for the charges against her.
The prosecutor and judge then asserted that it was fine to say “Falun Dafa” or “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” but it was not okay to say that both were “good.”
The judge eventually adjourned the trial without rendering a verdict.
Languishing in Detention for Five Months
Ms. Yang, 63, was retired from Hunan Metallurgical Machinery Factory. She was arrested at home on September 29, 2016. The police ransacked her home and took her to the No.4 Detention Center in Changsha City. She was denied family visits. The police who arrested her said that her arrest was ordered by higher authorities.
Prior to the arrest, she had just been detained at a brainwashing center for 30 days in early August for attending the trial of another Falun Gong practitioner. She was subjected to intensive brainwashing and not allowed to talk to other practitioners or do the Falun Gong exercises. When she went on a hunger strike to protest the arbitrary detention, the brainwashing center staff forced her to have injections of unknown drugs.
According to Ms. Yang's family, she has lost a lot of weight during the five months of detention. Most of her hair had turned gray. She looked very haggard and to be in failing health.
The Changsha County Court suddenly changed the trial location to the Changsha County Detention Center a few days before the trial, where public transportation wasn't available. Only 10 people were able to attend the trial, and all of them went through very strict security checks.
Someone who attended the trial said that her son received a threatening phone call after she left home. The caller said that she was under surveillance and should not attend the trial.
Miraculous Health Improvement after Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Yang started practicing Falun Gong in 2004. She experienced dramatic health improvements in a few months. Her 90-year-old mother-in-law, who had late-stage breast cancer, also improved after reciting “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
Her mother, who is in her 80s, fell down some stairs and hurt her coccyx. Doctors predicted that she would be bedridden for at least three months. She fully recovered in six weeks, also after reciting “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” daily.
Witnessing the miraculous healing power of Falun Gong, Ms. Yang was determined in the practice and hopes to share it with more people who are suffering from health problems.
The Ministry of Public Security under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated the “Skynet” project in 2004, in which surveillance cameras were installed on main roads with high traffic volumes in major cities and counties across China. In 2011, over 60,000 cameras were installed in Changsha City, which cost more than 800 million yuan (about 116 million dollars).
These cameras have been used to monitor Falun Gong practitioners.
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