(Minghui.org) An older couple from Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, were tried on May 31, 2019, for not renouncing their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body improvement practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The presiding judge frequently interrupted their lawyer's defense. When the lawyer mentioned for the second time that the Chinese publication bureau revoked the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011, the judge threatened to remove him from the court if he mentioned the notice again.
The judge said, “You are not allowed to mention anything specific to Falun Gong. The government has made decisions about it. There is no need for you to talk about it anymore.”
The judge adjourned the hearing without giving the couple a chance to testify in their own defense.
Mr. Li Yanchun and Ms. Pei Yuxian, 66, a retired award-winning doctor, were arrested on November 25, 2018, for distributing calendars with information about Falun Gong. They were interrogated for several hours at the local police station.
The police took the couple home that afternoon to ransack their residence. When the couple resisted, four officers took turns hitting and kicking them until their mouths were bleeding.
Mr. Li was released on bail due to high blood pressure 20 hours later. Ms. Pei was transferred to the Qinhuangdao City Detention Center.
The police submitted their case to the Lulong County Procuratorate on December 25, 2018, using Falun Gong books they'd confiscated as evidence.
The Lulong County Procuratorate later transferred their case to the Changli County Procuratorate, which indicted the couple and forwarded the case to the Changli County Court on April 28, 2019.
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