(Minghui.org) Three women in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province stood trial on November 21, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Their second hearing is set to take place on December 7, 2023.
The trial of Ms. Hu Shuiying, 71, Ms. Xiao Xinjin, 75, and Ms. Wang Dongya, 79, stemmed from their arrest on the morning of August 2, 2022. The three women were chatting with each other at the local Laofushan Bus Stop that day when officers from the Xihu District Police Department seized them and body-searched them. The 500 yuan cash and a few Falun Gong brochures that Ms. Xin had on her person were confiscated.
The police then raided all three women’s homes. They confiscated Ms. Xiao’s Falun Gong books, radio and other valuables. It is unclear what items were seized from the other two women’s homes.
Ms. Xiao, Ms. Hu, and Ms. Wang were held at the Xihu District Police Department for about 15 hours before being released on bail.
The Xihu District Police Department called Ms. Hu’s family in early March 2023 and ordered her to report to them on March 14. She went and was ordered to sign a statement promising to give up Falun Gong. She refused to comply and urged the police to stop persecuting law-abiding practitioners like her. The police threatened to forward her case to the Xihu District Procuratorate. They took her back into custody on August 3, 2023 and held her at the Nanchang City First Detention Center. Ms. Xiao was also taken back into custody (exact date unknown) and held at the same detention center. Ms. Wang remained on bail.
The Xihu District Court held a virtual hearing on November 21, 2023, with Ms. Hu and Ms. Xiao attending from the detention center. It’s unclear whether Ms. Wang attended the hearing at the courthouse or the detention center.
Ms. Hu’s lawyer defended her in court. It’s unclear whether Ms. Xiao and Ms. Wang had legal representation.
Prior to the hearing, Ms. Hu’s lawyer submitted a request to call the prosecution witness to the stand to accept cross-examination and to exclude the police-supplied authentication report from the trial. The lawyer argued that by law only independent, third-party forensic agencies are authorized to examine and authenticate prosecution evidence, but the Xihu District Police Department submitted the authentication report claiming that the items confiscated from Ms. Hu’s home were evidence that she broke the law.
The court ignored the lawyer’s requests. The lawyer defended Ms. Hu’s innocence during the hearing and again pointed out the conflict of interest that the police had in arresting his client and authenticating evidence against her.
The prosecutor accused Ms. Hu, Ms. Xiao, and Ms. Wang of holding an illegal gathering at the bus stop to promote Falun Gong. Ms. Hu’s lawyer argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that it was totally legal for his client to meet with the other two practitioners at the bus stop. Whatever they discussed, be it Falun Gong related or not, did not cause any harm to any individual or society at large.
The court refused to release Ms. Hu as her lawyer requested and instead scheduled a second hearing for December 7 at the Xihu District Court.
Ms. Hu was previously twice jailed for practicing Falun Gong. She was given an unknown term following her arrest in December 2012 and 2 years following another arrest in July 2019.
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