(Minghui.org) The Qinhuai District Court in Nanjing City illegally tried Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Xie Lihua, Ms. Tang Jingmei, Ms. Pan Xiaoqin, and Ms. Pan Qingning on September 17, 2015.
As is often the case with trials of Falun Gong practitioners, there were many underhanded attacks and breaches of protocol in what amounted to a sham trial.
The head of the Qinhuai District Domestic Security tried to stop the practitioners' lawyers from attending the trial, but did not succeed.
The practitioners' families were told that only two people from each family could attend the trial. However agents from the 610 office and the Domestic Security Division filled all of the seats in the public seating area, over 50 seats, leaving no room for the family members.
The families of Ms. Xie and Ms. Tang hired lawyers Hu Guiyun and Zhang Chuanli from Beijing, while Ms. Pan Xiaoqin was defended by her husband.
The lawyers disclosed during the trial that Xiao Ningjian, head of the Domestic Security Division, threatened their law firm in Beijing and demanded that the firm stop their lawyers from providing a defense. Undeterred, the lawyers entered not guilty pleas on behalf of their clients and demanded their immediate release.
The four practitioners were arrested on March 23, 2015. Detention papers were completed on March 24 by the Qinhuai District Police Department, and the arrest warrants were approved on May 1.
The Qinhuai Procuratorate prosecuted the practitioners on August 12. Ms. Xie and Ms. Tang were detained in the Nanjing Detention Center. Ms. Pan Xiaoqin and Ms. Pan Qingning were released on medical parole.
