(Minghui.org) Ms. Wang Aiying, a Falun Gong practitioner from Wuan City, Hebei Province, was arrested on June 1, 2011. She was put on trial for the third time by the Wuan Court on December 6, 2013. During the court session her lawyer entered a “not guilty” plea for her based on existing Chinese Law. His eloquence and professionalism was applauded by people in the courtroom, but was abruptly stopped by the prosecutor.
The court was in session from 4 to 8 p.m.. More than 50 people applied for entry into the courtroom, but only 15 people, including Ms. Wang's family, were allowed to enter. The excuse given for the small numbers allowed in was that the room was too small. People not allowed to enter waited outside until the court session was over.
The prosecutors were Yu Weiping (male) and a woman who refused to give her name or telephone number. They were the same prosecutors for the last two trials against Ms. Wang. Judge Sun Daoqing appeared to be quite impatient when the lawyer gave the defense, and ordered a halt to the session over and over again.
Not Guilty Plea
The lawyer entered a not guilty plea with a well-prepared and eloquent argument. The audience, impressed by his professionalism, applauded him. The female prosecutor was annoyed and threatened, “If you do not stop applauding you will have to pay fines and will be detained.”
In an attempt to make her case against Ms. Wang Aiying, the prosecutor presented the evidence, but the defendant's lawyer said that this evidence was fabricated. For example, the prosecutor displayed a six-page document which they claimed to be an official account of Ms. Wang's replies to an inquiry by the Handan City Intermediate Court. Ms. Wang denied to have said anything written in the document. The prosecutors then displayed a document to be a testimonial by the defendant's husband, Mr. Wang Hongliang, who was present at the trial. He denied that he had said anything as shown in the document or signed any document like that, and requested that the court check the signature on the document. When the court displayed yet another document as evidence, the lawyer pointed out that the witness was presented in the court session and the court could verify it. The judge interrupted him impatiently.
When the court session ended the judge told Ms. Wang's family that the verdict would be issued to them within two days.
A group of police officers from the Wuan Domestic Security Group, some in uniform and some plainclothes, were present throughout the trial. There were two vans and a police car parked outside the building. The officers started to evict the audience from the courtroom right after the trial ended.
Since her arrest on June 1, 2011, Ms. Wang has been held in detention for more than 900 days.
Account of the Persecution of Ms. Wang
Ms. Wang was sentenced to three years of forced labor by the Wuan Police Department for having gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in October 2001. She was not taken to a labor camp because of her poor health.
Ms. Wang and her husband, Mr. Wang Hongliang were arrested and taken to the Wuan Detention Center at 6 a.m. on June 1, 2011. The arrest was carried out by officers from the Chengguan District Police Station, including Zhang Aibin, and agents from the Wuan Domestic Security Division, Zhang Lihua and He Xubing.
The police confiscated the couple's personal belongings and 14,900 yuan in cash. Zhao Bo and Yu Weiping, officers from the prosecution section of the Wuan Procuratorate, prosecuted the couple. Chen Jianguo, a judge from the Wuan court sentenced them to prison in February 2012 without informing their lawyer and family. Ms. Wang's family learned in a telephone call to the court that Ms. Wang had been sentenced to a four-year term and her husband to a three-year prison term in March 2, 2012.
According to the Chinese Constitution and existing Chinese Law, it is completely legal to practice Falun Gong. Ms. Wang and her husband refused to accept the verdict. They appealed to the Handan City Intermediate Court in Hebei. In September 2012, the Handan Intermediate Court concluded that the case was baseless due to lack of evidence. They referred the case to the Wuan Second Criminal Court for a new trial.
Due to the attention by the public in China and abroad, the Wuan Procuratorate dropped the charge in January 2013 and Mr. Wang Hongliang was acquitted on February 2, 2013, after being held for 20 months. But Ms. Wang was still held in detention.
The Wuan Chengguan District Police Station fabricated more evidence against Ms. Wang and prosecuted her in the Wuan Court on March 1, 2013. The court called for a new trial against her. She was sentenced on March 18, 2013, to a three-year prison term. Ms. Wang refused to accept the verdict and again appealed to the Handan Intermediate Court.
In September 2013 the Handan Intermediate Court referred the case to the Wuan Court for a new trial.
On December 6, 2013, the Wuan Court held a new trial against Ms. Wang.
