Falun Dafa Gives a Farmer the Courage to Defend His Wife in Court

(Minghui.org) A local practitioner was illegally arrested, and her case was sent to the procuratorate. We suggested that her husband (also a practitioner) be her defense counsel and send the defense documents to various judicial departments to clarify the truth to the staff. Her husband, Chen, is an elderly farmer from a rural area so he felt inadequate—he was concerned about his age and limited education.

After discussing the situation with local practitioners, we decided to hire a lawyer, and we contacted a lawyer recommended by another practitioner. However, when we went to the law firm, we didn’t get to see the lawyer—instead we met with his assistant. This assistant didn’t seem interested in the details of the case or how to proceed with the defense, but asked if the power of attorney could be signed straight away. As Chen was present, he signed the power of attorney on the spot.

When I got home, I felt that something wasn’t quite right and thought we’d better hold back paying this lawyer and try to find another one. But then Chen received a phone call from the lawyer, asking him to pay the legal fees. Chen explained that he was still deciding if we should go ahead with his service, but the lawyer said he was already on his way to the detention center, implying that he already started working on the case.

I thought: Why didn’t the lawyer tell Chen beforehand that he was going to see his wife, or ask Chen if there was anything he would like to say to his wife? Would the lawyer handle things this way if it were an everyday person’s case? Later, the lawyer said that he took the initiative because he believed that Falun Dafa practitioners wouldn’t default on the payment.

Given the situation, we decided to pay the lawyer’s fees to cover what he’d already done, which came to more than 13,000 yuan, including his travel expenses. Chen didn’t make that much money in a year, so many practitioners chipped in to help cover the cost.

Realizing we shouldn’t just rely on the lawyer, practitioners began to work together to send legal documents to the local court and the procuratorate to prepare for the trial. We also sent a copy to the lawyer to clarify the truth to him, but he disagreed with what we’d written.

When the trial date was set, the lawyer asked us to pay his court fees before the trial. We had a discussion and agreed we should first get a copy of his defense statement to make sure his defense was appropriate. The lawyer said that he didn’t have a statement, because he always improvised in court depending on the circumstances.

We insisted that we be given a copy of his defense and said if his defense did not meet our requirements, we would stop working with him. The lawyer finally produced a copy.

We posted his statement on a practitioners’ legal forum, asking for advice. The feedback pointed out a number of shortcomings in the statement and suggested that, if the lawyer seemed timid or unwilling to firmly argue the case before the judge, we should think carefully before proceeding with him. The forum also offered some advice on how to present the defense in court.

After further discussion with practitioners in the forum, we had a clearer direction moving forward. Chen called the lawyer several times to tell him that the defense wasn’t strong enough. The lawyer refused to change his statement.

Since the lawyer showed little sincerity or courage to strengthen his defense and didn’t seem willing to modify his statement, we decided not to hire him for the trial in court.

Chen hadn’t been happy with him for some time, but was hesitant to terminate him because some practitioners said that it wasn’t easy to find a lawyer who dared to defend a Dafa practitioner, so we shouldn’t be too demanding. However, other practitioners believed that if the lawyer couldn’t defend his client wholeheartedly, we should not continue with him, even if it meant that Chen would have to defend his wife himself in court. We consulted people in the forum and our legal documents were well prepared. There was no point having a lawyer in court saying ambiguous things, which could do more harm than good.

In the end, Chen decided to terminate the lawyer’s legal representation. During the days before the trial, Chen read more relevant articles in the forum, which greatly boosted his confidence to defend his wife in court. “I can handle it alone without a lawyer,” he said.

It was quite amazing to see the change in him, from initially being rather confused, to sighing frequently under pressure, and then finally being full of righteous thoughts and ready to appear in court – his transformation was truly admirable.

Chen actively communicated with the court and the procuratorate to secure the legal right to review the case files and participate in the pre-trial meeting. He kept strong righteous thoughts during the meeting, and communicated with the attendees in a peaceful, reasonable, and rational manner. This approach resulted in understanding and sympathy from both the judge and the prosecutor and, at the same time, he was able to effectively clarify the truth to the attendees face to face.

He told us gratefully, “I had no fear at all, and remained very calm when I saw my wife at the pre-trial meeting. All I had in my mind were the legal principles I could apply for defense ... I felt I was following Master’s arrangement.”

There is nothing wrong with hiring lawyers for defense, but we need to be careful about how to engage them to achieve the best results. We must not forget that we are the main players. To determine whether a lawyer would do well in a case involving Dafa practitioners, we first need to let go of our everyday people’s notions.

Please kindly point out anything inappropriate in my sharing.