(Minghui.org) Three weeks after a secret hearing was held in the case of a resident in Fuzhou City for handing out informational materials about Falun Gong, she was sentenced to three years and one month in prison on October 19, 2018, in the Minhou County Court in Fujian Province.
Ms. Wu Yingxiang, 44, was arrested on May 2, 2018, for distributing information to raise awareness about the persecution of her faith, Falun Gong. She was secretly tried on September 26, 2018.
Taking advantage of her not having any legal knowledge, the judge didn't inform her family or ask her whether she had a lawyer to defend her during the hearing.
Her family hired a lawyer for her after they found out about the secret hearing. The lawyer submitted a written defense and demanded that the court and procuratorate drop her case and release her.
The lawyer argued that, as a homemaker, Ms. Wu doesn't have the ability or resources to undermine law enforcement, the charge she was accused of, nor does her practicing Falun Gong cause harm to anyone or society at large.
He also pointed out that it is the government itself that is undermining law enforcement in its persecution of Falun Gong, because there has never been any legal basis for the persecution, and that practitioners' freedom of belief should be protected by law.
Despite the lawyer's defense, the judge still sentenced Ms. Wu to prison in October and fined her 3,000 yuan, with the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization.”
Previous report:Court Holds Secret Hearing for Woman Without Legal Representation
Related article in Chinese:福州市法轮功学员吴莺香被非法判刑
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