(Minghui.org) A Wuhan City, Hubei Province resident was tried by Hanyang District Court on May 27, 2019, for not renouncing her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
As Ms. Chen Shanju's lawyer was entering the courtroom, a marshal threatened him, “how dare you take a Falun Gong case?”
The marshal also examined the lawyer's computer, cellphone and documents he had brought with him, whereby law defense lawyers are exempt from security checks.
During the hearing, Judge Liang Hong smeared Falun Gong and threatened Ms. Chen that she wasn't allowed to practice it.
Ms. Chen denied all the allegations against her and said she didn't violate any law by holding firm to her faith.
Ms. Chen's lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. The lawyer also pointed out that it's illegal for the judge to threaten his client during the hearing. He demanded Ms. Chen's acquittal, and the judge ignored him.
The lawyer had already sought his client's release when he met with the judge prior to the hearing. A staff member named Cao Wen in the judge's office said to the lawyer, “We could very well sentence her to three years.”
Ms. Chen remains at Wuhan City No.1 Detention Center following the hearing. She has been held there since she was arrested on October 17, 2017, while studying Falun Gong books with a few other practitioners, who were released a few days later.
Wuhan, Hubei Province: 24 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison Since 2017