Woman Tells the Court About the Greatness of Falun Gong--Lawyer Courageously Defends Her for Refusing to Give Up Her Belief

On December 23rd, 2008 in the Daoli District court of Harbin City, in China's Heilongjiang Province, the Public Prosecutor proceeded to try Acheng city Falun Gong practitioners Zhu Yumei and Wang Kun. Ms. Zhu said that practising Falun Gong is not a crime. Her lawyer, Han Zhiguang of Beijing Fairness Law Offices, also said that Zhu Yumei was not guilty of any crime.

On July 29th, 2008 while Ms. Zhu, a teacher at the sixth Middle School in Acheng city, and Mr. Wang Kun, a resident of Jiaojie town, were distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong, they were arrested by a group of policemen headed by Li Hongde. Since then, Ms. Zhu has been held at Harbin City Third Detention Centre (known as Yaziguan), and Mr. Wang has been at the First Detention Centre in Acheng City.

In court, Ms. Zhu stated that the reason she was giving out out flyers was to let people know about the persecution of Falun Gong. She and Mr. Wang were not harming anyone. Quite the contrary, they were helping people to learn the true situation about Falun Gong, the persecution, and the nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Ms. Zhu said, "Cultivating Falun Gong is my personal belief, and following Falun Gong's principles to become a better person is a good thing to do. Only the CCP considers practising Falun Gong and truth clarification to be crimes. Would you say that the many people in 80 countries around the world who practise Falun Gong are all criminals?"

Lawyer Han refuted prosecutor Acheng's charges one by one with quotes from China's Constitution and various parts of its criminal law. The lawyer's defence was forceful. The following are some of her main points.

"After having been entrusted with this case and having done an investigation of the court proceedings, I have come to understand the case thoroughly, and I have concluded that Zhu Yuemei is innocent and that her being in court today is wrong. The People's court should find her not guilty.

"In China's criminal code, specifically the section that deals with banning and regulating religious activities, as stated by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, and in the codes from the people's highest court and the procurators council that defines religious organizations, there is no mention of Falun Gong at all.

"In 2005 when the Public Security Department came out with document number 39 concerning acknowledgement and outlawing of 14 illegal religious organizations, there was no mention of Falun Gong at all.

"Perceiving all those who participate in Falun Gong activities as members of an illegal religious organization has no legal basis. According to this nation's criminal law "It is not a crime if there is no legal prescription against certain activity", should the court make any sentencing based on article 300 of the criminal law, there is no lawful basis. As a matter of fact, legally she should be pronounced not guilty.

"Concrete reason number one: Zhu Yuemei does not meet the criteria of being an illegal religious organizer, because she is an excellent teacher who received a proclamation from Acheng district on September 24th, 2008 from the school at which she teaches, which certifies her outstanding record that is totally in synch with modern society's spiritual and moral standards. In the realm of her spirituality and her personal character, there is not a single bad behaviour or element.

"She began practising Falun Gong in January 1996, and since then has been publicly recognized as a good person as well as a good wife. Her cultivation practice is out of her faith and desire for a certain kind of world. This is her spiritual path. Obviously it is not a crime.

"As proscribed in the Constitution, the citizens of China have freedom of religion. No government agencies, social groups, or individuals can force another individual to not have religious faith or vice versa - our nation protects religious freedom, normal religious activities. This is China's highest legal system for protecting religious freedom - our Constitution is the origin of other laws. Any action or by-law negating freedom of belief is against the Constitution, and is considered illegal and invalid. Since our Constitution guarantees freedom of belief, then Zhu Yuemei's following her own beliefs and ideals is naturally innocent and has no connection with crime at all.

"Concrete reason two: Objectively speaking, since Zhu Yuemei did not do anything that interferes with the implementation of our nation's laws, she does not meet the objective conditions for committing a crime."

In summing up, lawyer Han Zhiguang said: "The reason Zhu Yuemei is standing here as a defendant is because of some individual law enforcer who didn't have a clear understanding of the law and abused his authority. What she did, both from a legal standpoint and the actual events was not criminal. Therefore, as her representative, I sincerely hope that the People's Court will pronounce Zhu Yuemei not guilty and that she will return home as soon as possible, so that she can resume teaching at the podium for the betterment of a younger generation."

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/1/3/192874.html