Nine Practitioners on Trial in Benxi City, Defense Lawyers Plead Not Guilty

(Minghui.org) Nine Falun Gong practitioners--Zhang Li, Zhang Huishuang, Lu Bin, Pan Guangjie, Li Junying, Song Wenzhi, Ren Guizhi, Gao Peiqin, and Quan Shuhua--were put on trial in Xihu District Court in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, at 9 a.m. on December 9 of last year.

Prior to the trial, the court notified the families by telephone that only two relatives of each practitioner would be allowed to be present at the proceedings. The public would not be allowed to attend and were kept outside the courthouse gates, which were guarded by several police officers. The relatives were searched and their IDs recorded. All the seats in the courtroom, except for those occupied by the family members, were all taken by plainclothes police officers. The aisles were guarded by dozens of officers.

A Strong Defense, Prosecution Witness Fails to Appear

The trial lasted 11 hours--from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.--without a recess. Five defense attorneys argued passionately for the nine practitioners and pointed out that practicing Falun Gong is not a crime, that charging Falun Gong practitioners with criminal offenses is completely in violation of the law, and that the trial was just an excuse to frame these practitioners.

The prosecution allegedly had a witness named Zhang Chuang, also known as Zhang Shuang. The defense lawyers asked the witness to be present in court multiple times, but their requests were ignored by the court. The police did not produce a valid ID for the witness, who had posed as a Falun Gong practitioner and asked for truth clarifying materials from practitioners and later provided these materials to the authorities to use as evidence.

Background

On August 30, 2012, officials from the Domestic Security Team in Benxi City and officers from the Police Branch in the Xihu District arrested the nine practitioners: Zhang Li, Zhang Huishuang, Lu Bin, Pan Guangjie, Li Junying, Song Wenzhi, Ren Guizhi, Gao Peiqin, and Quan Shuhua. Ms. Zhang Huishuang had been persecuted and abused for a long time. She was arrested multiple times, force-fed by guards in the local detention center, injected with unknown drugs, and tortured by the stretching method. She was now no longer able to take care of herself. She was also detained twice in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp.

Individuals involved in this case and their telephone numbers:

Zhang Jie, from the domestic team: [phone]
Wu Zhigang, safety inspector: [phone]
Wen Chuancheng, deputy police chief, Hedong Police Station: [phone]
Zhao Yulan, presiding judge, in charge of this case: [phone]
Liu Congbo: [phone]; Shen Yanping: [phone]; Zhao Mingjiao: [phone]; Wang Qingbiao: [phone]; Fu Dayong: [phone]; Wang Chun: [phone]; Li Zhuo: [phone].

Court staff:
Jiang Yingtao: [phone]; Wang Jincai: [phone]; Lu Yanling: [phone]; Meng Juan: [phone]; Zhao Yingjie: [phone]; Liu Yingjie: [phone]; Jiang Rong: [phone]; He Dan: [phone]; Ding Weidong: [phone].