Linquan County Trial of Four Practitioners a Farce

The Linquan County Court in Anhui Province recently put Mr. Wang Shengli, Ms. Ma Yuling, Ms. Yu Zuzhi, and Ms. Yuan Xiaoqiong on trial. All five attorneys, including the one assigned by the court, thought the four Falun Gong practitioners were innocent. The presiding judge could not find evidence to support the accusation in the case documents. Tao Jingwen, the public prosecutor, did not dare to raise her head once during the entire proceedings. The proceedings were a farce. The court still has not announced its decision.

Mr. Wang Shengli from Fuyang, Ms. Ma Yuling from Linquan, and seven other practitioners were arrested by police from Fuyang City and Linquan County, Anhui Province, on December 6th, 2010. The police called it the “Big Nine-Person Case.” They applied for approval to arrest Mr. Dai Zonglin, Mr. Zhang Tingjiang, and Mr. Yuan Yongmin officially but did not get. Then they planned to send the three practitioners to a forced labour camp, but that was not approved either, so the police had to release the them. Mr. Li Chunmin was also released. As a result of persecution, Ms. Yu Zuzhi had symptoms of high blood pressure and cerebral haemorrhage. She was recently released for medical treatment. The Linquan Procuratorate then brought charges against Mr. Wang Shengli, Ms. Ma Yuling, Ms. Yuan Xiaoqiong, and Ms. Yu Zuzhi to the Linquan Court.

The Linquan Court initially decided to try the four practitioners on the morning of November 16th. After the news was made public on the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom), the court rescheduled the session for 9 a.m. on November 18th. By about 8 a.m. that day, about 50 family members, relatives, and Falun Gong practitioners stood on either side of the entrance to the courthouse, waiting for the four practitioners and supporting them. The police were afraid of the momentum of public opinion and had the police vehicle enter the courtyard by the rear entrance.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not follow the law in dealing with Falun Gong practitioners, and the charges were entirely fabricated. Tao Jingwen, the public prosecutor, did not dare to raise her head to answer questions during the four-hour session. When the judge asked, “In all the case documents, I did not see any evidence of illegal assembly. I only saw that several people had a meal together. Why was it called 'illegal assembly?'” Tao Jingwen was speechless for several minutes. After the judge demanded her answer several times, she said, “To eat together is also counted as assembly.”

All five attorneys pleaded not-guilty for the four practitioners. Even Mr. Wang Shengli's court-appointed attorney thought the practitioners were innocent. After the trial, the attorneys had a chat and decided that it was because the CCP was terrified of Falun Gong. It is a trifle for eight people to eat together.

The trial lasted from 10 a.m. to about 2 p.m. After the presiding judge announced that the trial was adjourned, the judges walked out right away. Seeing the judges walk out, the family members and relatives who were waiting at the entrance shouted, “Treat Falun Gong practitioners kindly!”

Tao Jingwen, Public prosecutor with the Linquan Procuratorate

Linquan Court: 86-5586512149

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/12/3/250114.html