(Clearwisdom.net) On March 23, 2009, the Heping District Court in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province held a hearing against three Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Gao Shubin, Ms. Gu Chunying and her husband Mr. Guo Jian. The security at the court was very tight. Due to involvement from the local 610 Office, the court only allowed the presence of one family member for each practitioner during the hearing.

Many Falun Gong practitioners and their supporters came to the court on March 23, 2009. Some plainclothes agents closely monitored them outside the courtroom and videotaped everything. The television monitor posted the hearing to be held in the afternoon. The hearing for Mr. Gao Shubin, Ms. Gu Chunying and Mr. Guo Jian started at 1:30 p.m. The hearing was presided over by Judge Yao Hong. In the morning, nobody was allowed to go to the second floor when the hearing for the practitioners were held. There were many police agents with their police cars outside. Some policemen went on top of the building across the street from the court building, and others went to the hallways surrounding the court with electric batons in their hands. In the early afternoon, several dozen police agents drove away people who were gathering around the court building.

The families of the three practitioners hired defense lawyers Mr. Han Zhiguang and Mr. Wang Yajun from Beijing and Mr. Han Yu and Mr. Wu from Shenyang City to defend the practitioners. All four lawyers interviewed the defendants and reviewed the evidence against them. They concluded that these practitioners had not violated any laws or regulations.

During the first hearing, Judge Yao interrupted the defense lawyers' speeches several times. However, the lawyers' defense was rational and had concrete evidence, so the judge and the prosecutor could not go any further with the charges. The hearing ended at around 6:00 p.m. without reaching a verdict.

Mr. Gao Shubin was born in 1960. His hometown is Wanghua District of Fushun City, Liaoning Province. He was arrested in the Huaiyuanmen area in Shenyang City.

Ms. Gu Chunying was born in 1973 and her hometown is Xinmin City, Liaoning Province. On August 16, 2008, Liu Xiangdong, a police agent from the State Security Division, Liu Fuchen and several other police agents from the Xinxing Police Station came to Ms. Guo's home. Since Ms. Guo refused to open the door, the police tried to break into her home for over five hours. When they finally opened the door, Ms. Guo's brother, sister-in-law and father arrived. While the police was ransacking her home, Ms. Guo escaped. In September 2009, she came back to her home. One morning, police from the Xinxing Police Station arrested Ms. Guo while she was taking her child to school.

Mr. Guo Jian was born in 1971 and is Ms. Gu's husband. His hometown is Changtu County, Liaoning Province. He is a taxi driver. On August 16, 2008, the police from the Xinxing Police Station arrested him on Zhongxing Street, Heping District, Shenyang City.

Mr. Gao's defense lawyer: Lawyer Han Zhiguang from Beijing and Lawyer Han Yu from Shenyang
Ms. Gu's defense lawyer: Lawyer Wang Yanjun from Beijing
Mr. Guo's defense lawyer: Lawyer Wu from Shenyang

The two local lawyers were determined to be at the courtroom to defend their clients despite pressure from the Justice Bureau.

Lawyer Wang Yonghang pointed out in an open letter that the judiciary and police have knowingly mis-interpreted Criminal Law Item 300, First Section, which is a crime according to Criminal Law Item 399.

In addition to false charges and illegal extension of detention terms, the CCP also committed other illegal activities such as:

1. Depriving the defendants of the right to a proper defense. The hearing was arranged for only three hours, which did not provide enough time for the defense lawyers to provide evidence to defend their clients. According to the lawyers' experience, the duration of such a hearing is normally five to six hours, and sometimes could go to eight or nine hours.

2. The "public" hearing was not public. The family members and other visitors were not allowed in the court room. The defendants were not presumed innocent, as required by law. The police intimidated the defendants, which violates legal statutes and public trust.

3. The Procuratorate and the court are both controlled by the CCP, which makes a mockery of the independence of the judicial system.

Heping District Court
78 Xinhua Road, Heping District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, zip code 110005

Judge Yao Hong, 86-24-83219957