Prosecution of Falun Gong Practitioner Circumvents Established Laws

On the morning of July 22nd, 2010, the Liaoning Province Donggang Court, local police and staff from the Procuratorate put Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zou Jiling on trial.

Li Changming and Zhang Chuanli, attorneys from Beijing, defended the accused practitioner. They addressed the indictments one by one, based on legal principles. They remonstrated that practising Falun Gong and possessing Falun Gong materials is legitimate under Chinese law, the Chinese Constitution and established regulations.

The hearing showed clearly how the Communist Party circumvents Chinese laws.

This hearing against Zou Jiling by the Donggang Court was the fifth since May 25th, 2010.

Arrest and Extortion

At about 7 p.m. on December 21st, 2009, Mr. Zou Jiling was arrested by police from the JiAn Area, Donggang City. The police were employees of the Dandong Public Security Bureau Section 1 and the local police station.

The next morning, police ransacked his residence, and stole cash, a computer and many personal items. They even seized an electric rice-cooker and anything valuable they could grab.

Mr. Zou Jiling was taken to the Dadong Public Security Sub-bureau, where he was tortured, including beatings, being hung up by handcuffs and deprivation of sleep. The police tried to gain evidence through torture, forcing him to acknowledge fabricated charges about himself and other practitioners.

In March, 2010, the Donggang City Public Security Bureau took his case to the Donggang Procuratorate, submitting a confession extracted through torture.

Mr. Zou's family hired an attorney from Beijing. In April 2010, the attorney tried to speak with him at the Donggang Detention Centre. The case officer refused any contact with the accused. The attorney returned a few days later and noticed the scars from the handcuffs on Zou Jiling's wrists.

The Donggang Procuratorate did not investigate and find the people that tortured Mr. Zou Jiling. Instead, case officers Ma Guangyuan and Qu Hongling, known to be very active in the persecution of practitioners, and staff from the Donggang City Public Security Bureau, brought illegal charges against Mr. Zou Jiling at the Donggang Court.

Exposing Torture during Court Hearing

At 8:30 a.m. on July 22nd, the Donggang City Court put Mr. Zou Jiling on trial. During the hearing, practitioners were not allowed into the courtroom. Only between three to five people from his family were allowed to be present.

Mr. Zou denied all accusations and as a sham, and attempted to expose the crimes committed against him. He lifted his clothes and showed the scars on his body due to torture. Everyone was shocked.

Attorneys Li Changming and Zhang Chuanli refuted all the charges, based on existing Chinese law, China's constitution and established regulations. They also demanded that Mr. Zhou Jiling's persecutors accept responsibility for their illegal acts against him.

Defence Attorney Zhang Chuanli spoke out during the court hearing:

1. He said that it first needed to be pointed out that all the so-called charges were inadmissible, as the confession was made under duress. Any coerced confession is illegal under existing law.

2. He continued that any evidence obtained through coercion, as discussed, is illegal and all accusations are subjective in nature.

3. The accusation that Falun Gong damages the execution of national law has not been proved and no evidence exists pointing to such an assertion.

4. The defendant has never been told what law or regulation he had violated.

5. There is no evidence to prove that he damaged the enforcement of law or statute.

6. There is no evidence that would point towards Falun Gong as a cult, as no legal document exists that has pronounced Falun Gong as a cult.

7. The basic fact is that practising Falun Gong is to keep fit and healthy. The Falun Gong materials in his possession are his legal belongings, and should thus receive legal protection under existing law. Present day Chinese law stipulates that possession of guns is illegal and possessing drugs is a crime. Yet, no Chinese law stipulates that possessing Falun Gong informational materials is illegal.

8. Viewing the accusations from the angle of criminal law, the defendant's behaviour does not harm society, and thus he can't be recognised as guilty under the law.

9. As for the confiscated materials, including his personal writings, there is nothing there that brings harm to society.

Facing the attorney's defence, the public prosecutor and presiding judge had nothing further to say, so they wound up the hearing hastily.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/7/29/227657.html