Falun Gong Practitioners Tried by Jinshantun Court in Yichun City

On June 1st, 2009, three Falun Gong practitioners from Jinshantun, Yichun City hired lawyers to defend them.

On December 1st, 2008, practitioners Mr. Zhang Peixun, Mr. Bao Yongsheng, and Li Congfu were arrested by officers from Jinshantun Police Station in Yichun City. Yang Huiqiu, director of the police station, was in charge of the arrests. Police also ransacked their homes and interrogated them, attempting to extort confessions. During the interrogation, Mr. Zhang Peixun lost consciousness twice due to brutal beatings. They were transferred to the Xilin District Detention Centre in Yichun City after being detained for ten days at Jinshantun Detention Centre. Their families hired six lawyers to defend these innocent practitioners.

After six months of detention, Mr. Zhang Peixun, Mr. Bao Yongsheng, and Li Congfu were brought to trial at Jinshantun Court. From 7 o'clock in the morning, all roads were closed up to two hundred metres away from the court. Neither vehicles nor pedestrians could get in. Coloured ropes blocked off the area. Police and plain clothes officers were everywhere yelling at people. Directors of local residential committees showed up, too. They tried to restrain the practitioners from their residential areas. Two practitioners just passing by were arrested and put into a police vehicle. A college student coming back from another area took pictures out of curiosity using his mobile phone. He was arrested, and his phone was almost smashed. The people standing far away said, "Even a murder trial is not as heavily guarded as this!"

At 8:30 a..m, the people involved entered the court room. No voice recorders, video recorders, or mobile phones were allowed in the courtroom for the defence lawyers. One of the lawyers said, "We have never been treated so unfairly." Only two people from each family were allowed to attend. Others had to stand outside, away from the blocked off area. All routes to other cities were strictly guarded, and anyone passing by was questioned. Li Hong, Party Secretary of Jinshantun, arrived. Some officials from Heilongjiang Province and the mayor of Yichun came, too.

At 9 a.m., the doors closed and the trial officially began. The courtroom was full of police, including officers from other areas, besides the six lawyers and six relatives of the practitioners. Shen Xiangfu, prosecutor from the Procuratorate, led the prosecution against the three practitioners. The dossier presented by Shen Xiangfu was unknown to the defence lawyers, who protested, "This is against the law." After his protest, they received the dossier, but only half an hour was given to read it. This created a very difficult situation for the lawyers. Also, the lawyers found the dossier was not the original one. It was a copy with no signature of the defendants or interrogators. The records indicated that the same prosecutor had interrogated two witnesses in different places at the same time. "Does this person have a clone?" Prosecutor Shen Xiangfu had no reply. The lawyers pointed out that the interrogation records showed that the interrogation happened after midnight, around 2 a.m.. This was in violation of the law.

Prosecutor Shen Xiangfu started shouting. He tried very hard to implicate the three practitioners and interrupted the defence of the lawyers several times. After the lawyers protested, he grabbed a water bottle in his hand to make noise to interfere with the defence. After Shen Xiangfu saw this did not work, he ran to the toilet several times to interrupt the lawyers. Hearing the lawyers' strong defence, Shen Xiangfu often lowered his head without saying a word. Later he presented the CDs exposing the persecution of Falun Gong taken from the practitioners, and said they were illegal. The lawyer stated, "I do not see why those are illegal" and asked him, "Why you believe those are illegal? Have you watched them?" "No" replied Shen Xiangfu. The lawyer said, "How could you know those are illegal since you have not watched them? Why don't we play them in the court?" The judge said, "It isn't convenient to play them now. We can play it later." Shen Xiangfu mentioned that they had confiscated computers and CD burners from the practitioners, claiming that they are illegal possessions. The lawyers pointed out, "Now technology is very developed. Computers have entered many homes. Browsing on-line, downloading things, listening to music, and reading news on-line are all legal. This is not a crime. Also citizens have freedom of belief and freedom of speech. They have the right to believe or not to believe."

Practitioner Bao Yongsheng's defence was solid. He declared that his belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance was not a crime, that being a good person and a better person should be encouraged in any country, and that good health and good moral standards would benefit the country and nation. He asked, "Why are good people like us persecuted unfairly? Today I stand in this courtroom, feeling very sad for the people who persecute Falun Gong. Because I have read Falun Gong lectures, I have told you that I do not hate you, although you have tortured me in all kinds of ways. Just to give you an example, you poured cold water on me in the bitter cold of winter. You poured twelve buckets of water over me, and it lasted eight or nine hours. You hung ten frozen water bottles on me. I lost consciousness and did not wake up for two months. I do not hate you--I want to give you hope. Because you also have wives and children, at least you should consider their futures."

Finally, the lawyers presented their argument for the defence: "The Constitution has clearly specified, 'All power in the People's Republic of China belongs to the people.' 'The organization for people to exercise state power is the National People's Congress (NPC) and the local people's congress at different levels.' 'No organization or individual may enjoy the privilege of being above the Constitution and the law.' In order to persecute Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] decided to ban Falun Gong. It has no lawful basis. Jiang Zemin abused his privileges, and his action is going over the law. It has brought disaster to our country and our people. You always say we want to be in accordance with 'international practices.' Then why is it legal to practise Falun Gong in 114 countries, but it is persecuted only in China? Isn't this deviating from 'international practices?' Is our Constitution just for show for foreigners? Normal people have the right to criticize and monitor the ruling party. Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are not wrong--believe that Falun Gong is innocent!"

The judge then asked the lawyers, "What do you want to do?" They said, "Release Zhang Peixun, Bao Yongsheng, and Li Congfu right away." The judge then called the trial to an end. But when the family members tried to get to the practitioners, they were stopped and told that "more discussion was needed." The judge told the defence lawyers after the trial had ended, "We are not in charge. We need to discuss this with a higher authority."

Since the three practitioners have still not been released, and Bao Yongsheng disclosed the brutal persecution during the trial, we ask the international community to pay attention to this case and prevent the police from seeking revenge.


Jingshantun Court, Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province
Cong Xiwu, Court Director: 86-13704589966(Mobile)
Zuo Yan, Deputy Court Director: 86-13904589159(Mobile)
Police Station
Shen Xiangfu, Prosecutor: 86-458-3738727(Office), 86-13846647433(Mobile) 86-458-3733277(Home)
Yang Huiqiu, Chief of the Jinshan Police Station: 86-13945893171(Mobile) 86-458-3733179

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/6/10/202505.html