On January 4th and 5th, 2009, Mr. He Yixing, his wife Zhang Yueqin and their son-in-law Sun Fengli were tried in two trials at the Lubei District Court in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. Their defence lawyers enumerated the crimes which the public security personnel, prosecutors, and the law-enforcement officials committed in the persecution of He Yixing and his family. The prosecutor and the judge gave no reply during the entire trial procedures.
Mr. He, Ms. Zhang and Mr. Sun had been tried twice before, on December 10th, 2008 and December 19th, 2008, at the Lubei District Court in Tangshan City. Prior to the trials, Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Centre officials declared that "on orders from above," their defence lawyers were forbidden to meet with them. Thus, the lawyers were unable to follow the normal legal procedures. Theirs and the defendants' rights were violated. The lawyers requested a delay, but the judge denied the request. The lawyers and the accused practitioners' family members refused to appear in court as a sign of protest. The two trials concluded hastily.
With the families' constant appeals and pressure from abroad, the Lubei District Court judge eventually permitted the defence lawyers to meet with their clients, and January 4th and 5th were set as new trial dates.
On January 4th, two defence lawyers pointed out that it is clearly legal to believe in Falun Gong and also made legitimate arguments for the defendants' plea of innocence.
The prosecutor was speechless. In the next day's trial for Mr. He Yixing and Zhang Yueqin, four defence lawyers sternly and eloquently listed the various crimes that public security personnel, prosecutors and the law-enforcement officials committed. The trial turned into a trial of the Chinese Communist Party, and the judge had to adjourn the trial four times.
The lawyers pointed out that in China, officials of the Public Security have identified a total of 14 cults, but Falun Gong is not among them. There is no law in China that prohibits the practice of Falun Gong, and therefore, Falun Gong is a legal organization and it is legal to practise Falun Gong.
The lawyers emphasized that the Constitution is the basic law of China, and all other pieces of Chinese legislation are based on the Constitution. Therefore, any law and document that violates the Constitution is unconstitutional, and hence is invalid. Practising Falun Gong is a citizen's basic human right granted by the Constitution.
The lawyers examined the Falun Gong practitioners' motives and behaviours from the perspective of criminal law theory. They pointed out that practitioners practise Falun Gong because they want to have a healthy body and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. In reality, they have contributed greatly to the country and society. The lawyers argued that practitioners do not have any motive to put society or anyone in danger. Falun Gong practitioners do no harm to society in any way; neither do they interfere with the administration of national laws. The trial lasted from 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 pm.
During the January 5th, 2009 trial, the defence lawyers requested the presiding judge, Zhang Xuesong, to dismiss the case and to provide an extension of the trial. The lawyers clearly stated that Zhang's refusal to let them meet with the defendants violated the defendants' and their lawyers' constitutional rights.
Zhang insisted on keeping the original date. It was clear that Zhang and the other law-enforcement officials had no intention of following legal procedure, and a fair trial was impossible.
Zhang Xuesong was embarrassed to hear the lawyers' defence. He adjourned the trial for over an hour, to discuss the matter with the president of the court. The court president did not provide a response.
In the subsequent trial, the defence lawyers listed the judiciary officials' unconstitutional acts. They stated that the public security officials' destruction of crucial evidence of their crimes violated the Criminal Procedure Law; hence they had become criminal suspects. Section 114 of the Code of Criminal Procedures stipulate that seized items and documents should be properly stored or sealed, and are not to be used or destroyed. The public security officials had destroyed seized items. The judiciary departments even kept a list of the destroyed items, in violation of the laws and regulations.
In addition, the defence lawyers pointed out that the Procuratorate had initially rejected the case when police department officials presented the case to them, because there was insufficient evidence. However, without making any additions and not meeting the conditions for prosecution, the procurator forcefully prosecuted the cases. That action is also illegal.
The defence lawyers further pointed out that the officials from the judiciary departments were completely ignorant of and lacking in legal knowledge and procedures, but only "slavishly followed the upper authorities, but undermined the law enforcement." The lawyers stated that the law is the basis of social order, and the protection of the normal operation of the nation's inner workings. The law enforcement officials are in flagrant breach of the law, an act that resembles a fundamental subversion of the national regime.
The defence lawyers' powerful arguments left the prosecutor and the judge speechless. To protest the unlawful trial, no family members were present at the court because the court only gave permission for two family members to be present. Many Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the courthouse to show their support.
Background
He Yixing, Zhang Yuejin and their daughter He Yan and her husband Sun Fengli were arrested on July 10th, 2008, as part of the mass arrests of Falun Gong practitioners before the Beijing Olympic Games. Undercover policemen from the National Security Team in the Lubei District used a fire truck ladder to climb to the 6th floor of their building and broke into Mr. He's residence through the window. They searched Mr. He's residence and confiscated over 600,000 yuan1. A certain amount of the money belonged to Mr. He's oldest daughter, He Dan's private business. The policemen also confiscated two of their cars. In the months following, agents from the Lubei District Police Department found all kinds of excuses not to return the cash to them. After Mr. He's relatives' and friends' numerous appeals, and media pressure from both home and abroad, the persecutors had to return the money and the cars.
Phone numbers of those involved in the case:
Tangshan City Political and Law Committee head, Xu Demao: 86-315-2846948 (Home), 86-13803328858 (Mobile)
Tangshan City Police Department head, Han Jinzhe: 86-315-2530001 (Office), 86-13832980096 (Mobile)
Deputy head, Zhou Jinglin (newly appointed as head of the Tangshan City 610 Office): 86-315-2530002 (Office), 86-315-2836588, 86-315-2236588 (Home), 86-13832980005 (Mobile)
Tangshan City 610 Office head, Zhang Zhanjiang
Lubei District Political and Law Committee:
Head Liu Dianxun: 86-315-3724336 (Office), 86-13700351228 (Mobile)
Deputy head, Han Jiurui: 86-315-3724278 (Office), 86-13832984668 (Mobile)
Communist Party Deputy Secretary, Liu Shuchun: 86-315-3724277 (Office), 86-13785512598 (Mobile)
General Management Office head, Huang Yuancai: 86-315-3724279 (Office), 86-13832989468(Mobile)
Stability Office head, Liu Xigang: 86-315-3724335 (Office), 86-13831506600 (Mobile)
Political Department deputy head, Xu Jun: 86-315-3724048 (Office), 86-13832982556(Mobile)
Office head, Sun Jing: 86-315-3724190 (Office), 86-15033985252 (Mobile)
Lubei District Court:
Address: Longze South Road #12, Tanshan City, Hebei Province, Zip Code: 063000
He Changzhu, President of the court and Party Secretary: 86-315-3710988 (office), 86-13903251612 (Mobile), 86-315-7683589 (home)
Ding Jianzhong, Vice President of the court: 86-315-3731919 (office), 86-13503256828(Mobile) 86-315-2023871; (home)
Zhang Xuewen, Vice President: 86-315-3733198 (office), 86-13832805808 (Mobile), 86-315-2836966 (home)
Li Wei, Vice President: 86-315-3733939 (office), 86-13832985345(Mobile) 86-315-2858566 (home)
Wang Jinhao, Vice President: 86-315-3733699 (office), 86-13582912836(Mobile), 86-315-2090720 (home)
Yang Ruizhong, Vice President: 86-315-3718288 (office), 86-13503157396 (Mobile), 86-315-2729035 (home)
Li Shusheng, No. 1 Implementation Court's presiding judge: 86-315-3730678 (office), 86-13832868199 (Mobile)
Chen Zhiqiang, No. 1 Civil Court's presiding judge: 86-315-2836838 (office), 86-13931482128(Mobile) 86-315-2226264 (home)
Wang Jun, No. 2 Civil Court's presiding judge: 86-315-3733368 (office), 86-13932500556 (Mobile) 86-315-2320875 (home)
Zhao Xiaoming, No. 1 Criminal Court's presiding judge: 86-315-2812088 (office), 86-13784142599(Mobile) 86-315-2049299 (home)
Qian Yuming, No. 2 Criminal Court's presiding judge: 86-315-3733698 (office), 86-13315569528(Mobile) 86-315-2092762 (home)
Nie Jigming, Administrative adjudication division presiding judge: 86-315-3731366 (office), 86-13931597085 (Mobile)
Zhang Xuefeng, presiding judge
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/2009/1/12/193369.html
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