Four Female Practitioners from Ruichang City Sentenced

Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Yao Fenglan, Ms. Zhang Daidi, Ms. Han Yuming and Ms. Zhou Meili were arrested by local police while putting up flyers exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in Ruichang City on July 11th, 2011. Three months later, on October 12th, they were put on trial by authorities at Ruichang Court. Three human rights lawyers from Beijing were hired to defend them.

The practitioners' lawyers won long applause from everyone in the courtroom with their defence argument. Eventually the trial had to be adjourned because of invalid evidence from the prosecution. However, on December 16th, the judges at Ruichang Court sentenced the practitioners to three years of imprisonment.

At the trial on October 12th, the defence lawyers said, “Our clients only practice Falun Gong because of faith; they don't belong to any organization, and there is no damage done to any law enforcement. As for the Falun Gong-related books and CDs that the police obtained, these are items that they should have. According to Article 35 of the Constitution and the provisions of Article 36, their actions are consistent with the Constitution. The 'crime' that our clients are being charged with—practising an evil religion to undermine enforcement of the law—doesn't hold, so they should be acquitted and released.”

The lawyers requested that the judges respect the Constitution and citizens' rights, to have courage to uphold justice and do what is right, to acquit the defendants and release them.

As a matter of fact, practitioners are not just exercising their Constitutional right of speech when they put up fliers, but they are also upholding the right of others to know the truth. Thus, they are not only innocent but also meritorious. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) framing Falun Gong under the guise of the law, is real culprit undermining the law.

Several officers were so excited to hear that lawyers from Beijing were coming to town to represent the practitioners, that they went to hear the case in court. After hearing what was being said in the courtroom, they began to understand that what practitioners are doing is perfectly legal, and that the police, the prosecutors and the court are committing crimes against Falun Gong.

Family members of the practitioners who previously believed that practicing Falun Gong was illegal also came to understand that it is actually the regime that has been cheating people and committing crimes. People were so outraged that as they were leaving the courtroom, they denounced and rebuked the prosecutor.

However, on December 16th, the judges were forced by the CCP authorities to sentence the practitioners to three years of imprisonment even though there wasn't any evidence against them. The court has only notified the practitioners' lawyers and has yet to notify the practitioners themselves nor their families.

For the past 12 years, not one single persecution policy against Falun Gong by the CCP has been based on Chinese law.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/12/30/251227.html