(Minghui.org) A 75-year-old woman in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province was sentenced to three years and two months with a 10,000-yuan fine on September 11, 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The Xi’an City Intermediate Court heard Ms. Li Xuesong’s appeal case on December 18, 2023. Judge Zhang Yanping (+86-13571911661) presided over the hearing and judge Luo Chengxing (+86-18702938281) assisted her. They did not notify Ms. Li of the hearing three days in advance as required by law.
Ms. Li’s own lawyer demanded an overturn of her guilty verdict. She was arrested on August 23, 2021 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong flyers to passengers on two city buses. The Lianhu District Court convicted her on September 11, 2023 on charges that she used a cult organization to undermine law enforcement. Her appeals lawyer argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it a cult; hence her distribution of Falun Gong materials was completely lawful. He also pointed out that Falun Gong had no rosters or formal organization.
The lawyer then argued that the prosecutor in Ms. Li’s trial case had failed to prove the required four elements of her alleged “crime.” According to China’s criminal law, in order to convict a suspect of any crime, the prosecution bears the burden of proof and must show that, 1) the suspect is mentally competent and understands the consequences of their actions; 2) the suspect must have had a criminal mind (or criminal intent) to cause harm to others; 3) the suspect must have committed a criminal act; 4) the criminal act must have violated the legal rights of others (for instance, the criminal act of murder violates the victim’s legal right to live).
While the prosecutor in Ms. Li’s trial case was able to prove she was mentally competent to stand trial, he failed to prove the other three elements. Ms. Li never set out to harm others when she gave fellow passengers Falun Gong flyers. She just wanted to inform them of the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong and the health benefits of Falun Gong. Her act of distributing Falun Gong flyers was not criminal in nature as no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. Additionally, her act did not violate anyone’s legal rights or cause any harm to anyone.
Tian Cheng, the court-appointed lawyer from the Lide Law Firm, concurred with Ms. Li’s own lawyer and reiterated that her act of passing out Falun Gong flyers did not cause any harm to any individual or society at large.
Judge Zhang asked Ms. Li where she got the flyers. She did not answer. Zhang then asked her to demonstrate some Falun Gong exercises. She complied, only to be ordered by Zhang to renounce Falun Gong. While she did not know Zhang’s intention of having her demonstrate the exercises, she expressed her determination to not renounce Falun Gong.
It is unclear whether Ms. Li is still being held in Xujiawan Detention Center in the Weiyang District, Xi’an City. For details of her arrest, indictment, trial, and sentencing, see the related reports listed at the end of this article.
Lawyer Tian was appointed to represent Ms. Li before she had a chance to hire a lawyer. He was instructed not to request an overturn of her guilty verdict. Ms. Li then hired her own lawyer.
By law, a court-appointed lawyer should quit once their client hires their own lawyer. Tian knew the law well and told judge Luo that he’d drop Ms. Li’s case. Luo, however, insisted that he still attend the hearing. Tian said that there was no valid reason to do so and Luo gave an excuse that Ms. Li only had a lawyer, not a non-lawyer family defender. As a matter of fact, no defendants are required to use a lawyer or a family defender.
Luo also complained that Ms. Li’s own lawyer once filed a complaint against him along with another lawyer, for upholding the guilty verdict against another Falun Gong practitioner.
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