Why Does Shenyang Court Try to Conduct Secret Trials?

The Shenyang City Shengbei New District Court tried Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Niu Guifang, Ms. Qu Lihong, Ms. Zhou Fenglan, and a male Falun Gong practitioner whose name is unknown, under the direction of the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), on January 17th, 2013. The practitioners denied the criminal charges during during the trial. They argued that Falun Gong is legal and requested a release with a not-guilty verdict. They refuted Judge Wang Xu's accusations one by one. The judge stopped Ms. Niu when she tried to describe how she was tortured. The trial came to a hasty end within a couple of hours.

The practitioners' families, who had only been notified the evening before, hurried to the courthouse early in the morning. The four practitioners were brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and heavy shackles at around 9:30 a.m. After having been imprisoned and tortured for six months, they were in very poor health. Both Ms. Niu Guifang, in her forties, and Ms. Zhou Fenglan, in her sixties, had difficulty walking.

Ms. Niu could not lift her feet and shuffled in. She looked as though she was about to collapse. Her husband and her four sisters hadn't seen her for six months. They hardly recognized her, as she looked like a different person after being severely mistreated. She was emaciated and looked like she had lost 40 pounds. Ms. Niu's husband couldn't stop weeping when he saw his how terrible she looked. Even though families are supposed to be notified about trials at least three days prior, according to the law, most of them weren't notified until the evening before. Ms. Qu Lihong's husband received no notice at all. The court allowed only two family members for each practitioner to enter the courtroom. Male family members were thoroughly searched, and not allowed to talk to speak to the practitioners.

When judge Wang Xu charged Ms. Niu Guifang for “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of law,” Ms. Niu pointed out that Falun Gong teaches people Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and that the Constitution allows freedom of belief. Ms. Niu told them of her experience, “Officers from the Xinchengzi Police Station arrested me on the night of July 19th, 2012. They robbed me of 12,000 yuan¹ in cash, a computer valued at four-thousand-dollars, my gold band, two bank deposit books, a digital camera, and a sewing machine. I was thrown into the No. 1 Detention Centre of Shenyang.”

For more details about the severe physical abuse of Ms. Niu, please read, “Ms. Niu Guifang from Shenyang City Severely Beaten by Police” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2013/1/26/137246.html

The judge repeatedly interrupted Ms. Niu during her statement. Ms. Niu said, “I didn't do anything illegal. Your trial is illegal. I should be released.” Ms. Qu couldn't find her family member in the courtroom. After the judge finished reading all the charges, Ms. Qu said, “All the charges you have read are fabrications.” She asked the judge why her family hadn't been notified of the trial. The judge claimed the messenger could not find her home.

Ms. Zhou Fenglan was very weak and had to be supported during the trial. When she was told that she had to confess, she said, “I haven't committed any crimes by practising Falun Gong and being a good person.” The judge would not allow Ms. Zhou's husband or her son to talk to her.

The guards outside the courtroom were from Shenbei 610 Office and Shenbei New District Domestic Security Division. They video recorded the trial and questioned the practitioners' family members. Since the persecution of Falun Gong was launched in 1999, Shenbei New District Court has sent 13 practitioners to prison.

Related article:

“Four Falun Gong Practitioners from Shenyang, Liaoning Province Arrested, Sent to Labour Camp” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/9/13/135406.html

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.