The Facts of the Persecution of Falun Gong --April 18, 2009

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content


  • Elderly Woman's Life Is at Risk in "Intensive Training Camp"
    A 70-year-old Falun Gong practitioner's health declines dramatically while imprisoned.
  • Huanggu District Court in Shenyang City Released Four Falun Gong Practitioners at Their Second Trial
  • In an unprecedented event, several of the accused Falun Gong practitioners were released after trail. While the quality of  'show trials' given practitioners has been improving, with some practitioners allowed legal representation, trials always end with the sentencing of practitioners regardless of the charges or evidence.


    Elderly Woman's Life at Risk in "Intensive Training Camp"

    An elderly Falun Gong practitioner, in her 70s, from Wangjiang Township, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province has been illegally sentenced to a 4-year prison term. She is now being held at the Harbin Women's Prison. Along with several other practitioners, she was tortured while in the "Intensive Training Camp." Now her life is in grave danger. Her family members are urgently requesting her immediate release.

    On February 3, 2009, Ms. Liu Jingyan's 76-year-old husband was accompanied by their daughter to visit her at the prison. Her daughter burst into tears when she saw that her mother's teeth had all fallen out and she was wasting away. Her mother had been a good person her whole life. With the introduction of Falun Gong, her mother decisively started the practice. The illnesses and health problems that had plagued her for years completely disappeared. It was a big relief and a huge burden off her son and daughter's shoulders. However in 1999, Jiang Zemin and his cohorts started to persecute Falun Gong and even elderly women such as Ms. Liu weren't spared.

    In July 2008, Ms. Liu Jingyan and several other practitioners (Ms. Wu Feng, Ms. Yang Li, Ms. Cai Guifang, Ms. Cai Guiqing, and Mr. Cai Guirong) were arrested by the police while they were clarifying the facts about Falun Gong in Hongxinglong County. In December, they were sentenced and taken to the Harbin Women's Prison.

    By then, Ms. Liu had already been detained for over 6 months. Her health had deteriorated so much in that time that the prison officials refused to accept her. However, the police from Hongxinglong County just left her there, so the prison had to take her to the [prison] hospital for emergency treatment.

    Ms. Liu is presently suffering from hypertension, tuberculosis, and glaucoma. She is in need of urgent medical care.


    Huanggu District Court in Shenyang City Released Four Falun Gong Practitioners at Their Second Trial

    On February 6, 2009, Huanggu District Court in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, convened a second trial for six practitioners including Ms. Wu Yefeng. Four of the practitioners--Mr. Luo Huaiyu, Mr. Zhao Guoliang, Mr Cai Zongbin, and Ms. Liu Guifeng--were released without further criminal charges being brought against them. They were allowed to return home after ten months of detention.

    Ms. Wu Yefeng, however, was sentenced to five years in prison, and Mr. Zheng Yi was sentenced to one year in prison.

    Prior to the Beijing Olympics, citing security reasons, agents from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Shenyang City arrested more than 100 practitioners. Ms. Wu Yefeng and Ms. Liu Guifeng were held at the Shenyang Detention Center; Mr. Zhou Guoliang, Mr. Cai Zongbin, Mr. Zheng Yi, and Mr. Luo Huaiyu were held at the Huanggu Detention Center.

    On December 22, 2008, Huanggu District Court tried practitioners Zhao Zhanpo and Chen Xinye. Two attorneys from Beijing successfully defended them. This event stunned the entire judicial community in Shenyang City. During the six-hour trial, attorneys Jiang Tianyong and Lin Xiaojian applied the principles of law to single out the policies and current laws that the CCP is citing as justification for its despicable acts and drew attention to the unconstitutional nature of the communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong. The defense completely stonewalled the judge and the prosecutors. Judge Lin Fenglei finally sat silently at his desk. A grand jury member from the local CCP school told the judge, "This was a lesson for us!"

    When a court police officer emerged from the courtroom, he made the "V" sign to the waiting relatives, practitioners, and other supporters. He also said jokingly, "Today's court success belongs to you, Falun Gong." [Note: Most judges in China are merely political CCP appointees and have no background or training in matters pertaining to the law.]

    That the innocence of practitioners was successfully defended in a trial in Shenyang City stunned local officials. Local attorneys were encouraged by the incident. For the follow-up trial for practitioners including Ms. Wu Yefeng in Huanggu District, seven additional attorneys from Shenyang City joined the defense to help defend the practitioners.

    Agents from the city 610 office were frightened when they realized ten attorneys were defending the practitioners. Huanggu District Court officials kept postponing the trial date, from the end of 2008 to February 2009. At the same time, the City Justice Bureau and the District Justice Bureau used different means to threaten the attorneys, trying to prevent them from defending the practitioners. The attorneys did not cave in under the pressure. They asked the pertinent officials to present written documentation as to why the attorneys should not proceed. But since Justice Bureau officials could not comply, the attorneys insisted on their right to defend the practitioners.

    On February 6, 2009, the court convened the trial of the six practitioners, including Ms. Wu Yefeng. To prevent the attorneys from defending their clients, court officials prevented the ten attorneys from entering the courtroom for "security reasons". The trial ended inconclusively in the absence of defense lawyers. For the court officials to refuse to let the attorneys enter the courtroom truly reflected the unconstitutional nature of the persecution of Falun Gong and the fear of those who commit wrongdoings against Falun Gong. Such reprehensible conduct made a mockery of justice and was laughed at worldwide.

    The ten defense attorneys issued a strong protest. They mailed signed petition letters to the justice departments at various levels in the regime and also asked attorneys nationwide for support. The ten attorneys have received requests for interviews from overseas media.

    In the decade since the communist regime began the persecution of Falun Gong, practitioners have been handed heavy sentences in each case that went to trial and eventually incarcerated. This time the four practitioners were released without further criminal charges. Even though they were not pronounced innocent before being released, it was still the first time in ten years for such an outcome in China.

    More than once in recent months have capable, ethical attorneys, in conjunction with practitioners' consistent effort to clarify the truth to Shenyang City Justice Bureau, declared defendant practitioners "innocent" and shocked the evildoing forces led by the 610 Office who have persecuted and are still persecuting kindhearted Falun Gong practitioners in Shenyang City.

    In mid February 2009, the CCP Political and Judiciary Committee Head Zhou Yongkang, one of those responsible for starting the persecution, went to Shenyang. He attempted to prevent attorneys in many locales from defending the innocence of Falun Gong and pressured the local justice department. Some officials from the Justice Bureau threatened attorneys, saying, "If you keep on defending Falun Gong practitioners, we will suspend your license to practice law."