(Minghui.org) Two residents of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, were tried on February 20, 2025 because they practice Falun Gong, spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Jin Xiaofeng, 65, and Ms. Zhao Guiping, 71, were arrested on July 13, 2024, while they were talking to each other on the street. The Dadong District Procuratorate indicted them on December 10, 2024 and they appeared in the Dadong District Court on February 20, 2025.
Mr. Jin and Ms. Zhao’s respective lawyers and Mr. Jin’s family defender (his daughter who’s alias is Mei) demanded their acquittal. The two practitioners also testified in their own defense. Mei attested to Falun Gong’s amazing power. She said that her father Mr. Jin used to be a selfish person and didn’t care about anyone but himself. He often fought with his family and only focused on his own needs. His family was on the verge of collapse. After practicing Falun Gong, he quit his bad habits and started taking care of his sick parents-in-law. He no longer said no when his other family members or friends asked him for help. He also became less interested in personal gain and no longer got angry when he received defective products when he shopped online.
Presiding Judge Zhang Jutao and prosecutor Wang Yu kept interrupting the lawyers and the practitioners during the trial.
Wang accused Mr. Jin and Ms. Zhao of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used by the communist regime to frame Falun Gong practitioners. The defense pointed out that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it a cult. Mei also presented a joint notice issued by the General Office of the CCP Central Committee, the General Office of the State Council, and the Ministry of Public Security on April 9, 2000, titled, “Notice of the Ministry of Public Security on Certain Issues Concerning the Identification and Suppression of Cult Organizations.” This notice listed 14 cult organizations but Falun Gong was not on it.
Judge Zhang declined to accept the joint notice as evidence to support the defendants’ innocence and yelled, “How can this be used as evidence?”
The hearing lasted four hours. Mr. Jin and Ms. Zhao are currently awaiting verdicts, with the former held at the Dadong District Court and the latter at Shenyang City First Detention Center. Prior to her latest persecution, Ms. Zhao was previously given two years of forced labor in 2001 and one year in prison 2016.
Most Supporters Barred from Attending Hearing
Ms. Zhao’s and Mr. Jin’s family members and friends—several dozen people, arrived at the courthouse at 8:30 a.m. on February 20, 2025, half an hour before the the trial was scheduled to begin. Upon seeing so many supporters, the judge immediately called in more bailiffs and police officers to patrol inside and outside the courthouse.
Judge Zhang decided to allow just two supporters of each practitioner to attend the trial. Mr. Jin’s family defender Mei protested against this violation of the law and a bailiff claimed there weren’t enough seats in the gallery. Mei said there were 40 seats available. The bailiff replied that spectators must sit with a space between them. Mei warned that she might file a complaint against him. He then shut up and Mei repeated her concerns to judge Zhang, who eventually allowed five more supporters of each practitioner to attend the hearing.
Zhang promised to allow more supporters in after the hearing began. Mr. Jin and Ms. Zhao’s other supporters waited for more than two hours in the hallway but were never allowed to enter the gallery. Only then did they realize that Zhang lied. They had no choice but to leave the courthouse. A bailiff then claimed that they no longer wanted to attend the hearing.
By law, each spectator only needs to go through security checks once. Judge Zhang however ordered a second security check of Mei and the 14 supporters of Mr. Jin and Ms. Zhao. An officer surnamed Sun who’s badge number is 210662 turned Mei’s purse inside out. She stopped him and he yelled that he was conducting a security check. Mei demanded to know what legal basis he had. He then got judge Zhang to talk to Mei. Zhang had no legal basis either and instructed Sun to just quickly scan the inside of her purse. Mei argued that even opening her purse once was a violation of law as family defenders and lawyers should be treated equally as legal representatives of defendants. By law, lawyers are exempted from security checks, and so are family defenders.
Zhang still had Mei’s purse checked a second time. Her cell phone and ID were also withheld during the trial, so were the 14 supporters’ phones and IDs. After entering the gallery, the supporters were ordered to sit with one empty seat between them.
Judge Denies Recusal Request
Zhang finally started the hearing at 9:30 a.m., 30 minutes later than it was scheduled. Mr. Jin, his lawyer and defender all requested that Zhang and Wang be recused. Zhang rejected their request and declared that the defense had no right to apply for reconsideration of their recusal request.
Mei pointed out that by law the court should immediately adjourn to discuss the recusal request and that Zhang had no authority to make a decision on his own.
Mei also noted that prosecutor Hu Dan, whose name was listed in the indictments, was the one scheduled to be present at the trial. Prosecutor Wang however was seen in his place that day. By law, the defense should be given advance notice of prosecutor change. Wang also ignored the recusal request.
Prosecutor Fails to Prove Allegations Against Defendants
Prosecutor Wang charged Mr. Jin and Ms. Zhao with “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” but she failed to produce any legal basis to prove which law the two practitioners allegedly broke, to cause what harm to which individual or society at large.
When Mei reiterated the fact that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult, Wang insisted that Mr. Jin and Ms. Zhao’s practice of Falun Gong in itself was sufficient to prove they broke the law. She failed to detail how the prosecution evidence was relevant in the case and only indicated the names of the evidence, such as Falun Gong books confiscated from the two practitioners’ homes. Additionally, she did not present the original evidence and instead only showed photos of the evidence.
The police-provided evidence was also inadmissible, Mei emphasized. Following her father Mr. Jin’s arrest, the Quanyuan Police Station officers promised to release him in three days if he admitted to his guilt. He refused to comply and the police fabricated the interrogation records. Ms. Zhao echoed that her interrogation records were also entirely made up as she never said anything as stated in the indictment. The interrogation video, which judge Zhang did not allow to be shown in court, also clearly showed she did not say what she was alleged to have confessed during interrogation.
Mr. Jin also testified against the police for accusing him of distributing Falun Gong informational materials on July 13, 2024. He was standing next to his car and talking to Ms. Zhao that day when five plainclothes officers swarmed them and arrested them. The police said they had been following him for three months. The premeditated arrest however was portrayed in the indictment as a spontaneous arrest after “catching” him distributing Falun Gong information. While there was nothing wrong with passing out Falun Gong information, Mr. Jin did not do so on the day of his arrest.
Given the situation, the defense lawyers and Mei repeatedly asked that the prosecution evidence be excused from the trial. Judge Zhang denied their requests.
Unfair Treatment of Defendant
Prosecutor Wang read the indictment so quickly that it was difficult to hear what she said. The two practitioners and their defense asked her to repeat it. Judge Zhang refused their request, reprimanded them, and said, “How come I heard her so clearly?”
When Mr. Jin, who had been unable to sleep for two nights due to health reasons, spoke in a weak voice while presenting his own defense statement, judge Zhang yelled at him, “Move your mouth closer to the mic! You hear me? Get closer to the mic!”
Zhang also kept interrupting the two practitioners and their defense. When Mei was testifying against the police for arresting her father without legal basis, Zhang scolded her, “Did I allow you to talk?” Mei responded, “You have been violating the law from the beginning of this hearing. The entire trial is an illegal trial of law-abiding citizens for upholding their spiritual belief.” Zhang went quiet.
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Liaoning Man Facing Trial for His Faith that Turned Him into a Much Better Person
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