Cai Yuechan and Cai Yuchang Tried in Shantou City, Guangdong Province

Police officers from Outing Police Station arrested practitioners Cai Yuechan and Cai Yuchang on December 4th, 2010 in Shantou City, and took them to the Tuopu Detention Centre. The practitioners were forced to appear in Longhu District Court on June 3rd. The prosecutor was from Longhu Procuratorate.

Ms. Cai Yuechan and Ms. Cai Yuchang went to meet someone in the manufacturing business on December 4th, 2010, at the Jinzhou Section of Outing Street in Shantou. They were meeting a businessman to give him a Shen Yun Performing Arts DVD¹. However, when they got there, the local police and the Procuratorate were waiting for them because the man had set them up and notified the authorities. Both women were arrested, and their families were not notified. They were taken to Longhu District Court on May 23rd, for a closed hearing without their families being informed. The hearing was delayed, however, because they insisted on their right to be defended by a lawyer.

The next hearing was on June 3rd. Both women made their own defence statements and requested to be released immediately. They mentioned the positive experiences both physically and mentally from practising Falun Gong, and how practitioners are required to have high moral standards. Their lawyer also stated that giving a person a Shen Yun Performing Art DVD is not illegal, and should have nothing to do with their charges.

The prosecutors, however, insisted that the women had committed a crime even though they had no evidence to support their claim. Their only so-called “evidence” was a dance performance called “Zhenhan” on the Shen Yun Performing Art DVD that depicts the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. So they told the court to play that specific dance performance.

“Zhenhan” is a dance piece that shows Falun Gong practitioners' compassion and forbearance to stand up for their belief while being unjustly persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. The dance piece is also a reminder of the Chinese saying, “Good begets good while evil deeds bring retribution.” The other performances shown in court were a dance piece showing ancient Chinese women in traditional Chinese clothing doing embroidery, and opera singing by well-known tenor, Hong Ming.

We hope that the court will make the right decision to release the female practitioners because handing out a Shen Yun Performing Art DVD is not a crime.

Note

1.Shen Yun Performing Arts is a New York based company showing traditional Chinese culture through classical dance and music. Some dance pieces in the show depict the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and how they show their compassion under extreme conditions.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/6/24/42908.html