Ms. Qiao Huarong Tried by the Chinese Communist Party-Controlled Court in Jizhou City, Hebei Province

Practitioner Ms. Qiao Huarong, was tried in a court controlled by the Chinese Communist Party in Jizhou City, Hebei Province on November 4th, 2008. At 8:30 a.m., security was tightened in the Jizhous Court, as if protection was needed from a formidable enemy. The guards at the entrance checked everyone carefully, and everyone entering the courthouse had to produce an identification card. Outside the the courtroom itself, apart from having to show personal identification, anyone entering had to produce a summons and submit to a body search. The lawyer retained by Ms. Qiao's family to defend her was initially not allowed to enter the courtroom. It was not until the trial was just about to start that the lawyer was finally allowed to enter, due to the family's adamant demands. The guard at the entrance said that there had been a special meeting in regard to this matter the day before and that the guards were ordered to be very strict in checking everyone, and were not to allow anyone to enter the courtroom easily.

At 9:00 a.m., presiding judge Feng Li convened the court session, and the public prosecutor began to read the indictment. The prosecutor read the evidence incoherently, and many sentences didn't make sense. The two lawyers pointed out that several records provided were totally irrelevant to Ms. Qiao's case. The presiding judge then reminded the public prosecutor to read only the relevant parts. The lawyers also pointed out that the written materials were not sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt. They asked for evidence that would prove that the defendant committed the crime. The public prosecutor said that there was no other evidence available.

During the court session, the public prosecutor, Zhu Xiuchao, spoke evasively. She kept whispering to the presiding judge as she presented her case. Apart from the presiding judge, Feng Li, who didn't leave her seat, the other two judges kept walking in and out of the courtroom not long after the hearing started, and they didn't stay long at all.

With the second accusation, the public prosecutor stated that material evidence, including computers and leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong, were found and taken from Ms. Qiao Huarong's home on July 4th, 2008. The defence lawyer presented a certificate from Jizhou Middle School to the court, which clarified that one of the computers found in Ms. Qiao's home was the property of the school, and was given to the family member to work at home. The other computer was private property. The lawyer handed the certificate to the presiding judge.

In order to conceal the fact that the search of Ms. Qiao's home was illegal, Zuo Tiehan and others from Hengshui National Security Team issued a search warrant after the search was conducted. However, the time and location listed on the search warrant were incorrect. The defendant's lawyer pointed out that the date Qiao Huarong was arrested was July 4th, but it was written as July 5th, and that the location should have been the family's living quarters in Jizhou Middle School instead of 276 Xiguan Village. Lawyer Du from Baojing pointed out that the evidence provided by the reconnaissance office was in conflict with the facts, that this kind of evidence should not be used as evidence for the case, that the reconnaissance office violated criminal code procedure, and that the court shouldn't allow such illegal evidence.

Facing stern questioning by the defendant's lawyer, the presiding judge nodded. After the public prosecutor made the two accusations, the presiding judge announced that arguments would now be heard. The public prosecutor repeated the accusations by reading the indictment again, stating that crimes had been committed according to the collected evidence. Then Lawyer Zheng from Hengshui pleaded that the defendant was not guilty. He started by stating that Falun Gong is not an "evil cult." To this day, there has been no law in China that says Falun Gong is evil. The judicial definition of an evil cult by the Supreme Court and the Procuratorate also does not mention Falun Gong. The regulation on the Identification and Handling of Evil Cults made by the Public Security Bureau in 2005 mentioned 14 different evil cults, but Falun Gong was not included. He also pointed out that the charge "undermining the implementation of the law by using evil religious organizations" was an erroneous application of the law. When the second round of arguments started, the public prosecutor spoke first. She mumbled that the state had outlawed "Falun Gong," which meant that Falun Gong was not good. "If it's not good, doesn't that mean that it is evil?" She then hastily said that she wasn't sure. Seeing that the public prosecutor's reply was not to the point, Feng Li had to announce an adjournment and hastily concluded the case.

Ms. Qiao Huarong, who is in her thirties, lives at Jizhou Middle School. Since she started to practise Falun Gong in 1996, she has strived to be a good person according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She tries hard to improve her moral standard and always treats others kindly. The practice of Falun Gong is not only beneficial to her, it has also benefited others around her. Since the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Qiao has been repeatedly persecuted. On July 4th, 2008, just before the Olympic Games started, police officers Zuo Tiehan and others from Hengshui and Jizhou broke into her home in the afternoon and arrested her. They confiscated valuables including 800 yuan¹ in cash, a deposit book containing more than 10,000 yuan, and a computer. At the Jizhou Public Security Bureau, Zhao Guosheng, Zuo Tiehan and other policemen beat Ms. Qiao for more than three hours, causing her injury. When she was in the detention centre, guards there shocked her with electric batons and forced her to perform labour making floral wreaths. She had to make 23 wreaths per day. Currently, Ms. Qiao is extremely weak. When she fainted in the detention centre, the guard on duty not only didn't help her, he instead shocked her with an electric baton. No one was allowed to help her. They still forced her to finish 23 wreaths per day.

We hope that those in the Jizhou Court involved in this case will make a judgement that is right according to their conscience and in the light of history, immediately set Ms. Qiao Huarong free with a verdict of "not guilty" and punish the real criminals--the unlawful policemen who arrested, robbed, and beat this kind hearted woman. They are the ones that the public prosecutor should put on trial. We would also like to remind law enforcement officials not to violate the law themselves, because their judgements will forever be evidence of their crimes.

Note

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/11/8/189443.html