Attorneys for Falun Gong Practitioners Defend Their Clients Despite Interference by Shuangcheng Court

Jiang Xiaoyan, Luo Yanjie, Tian Xiaoping, Ge Xin, Yue Boqing, and Kang Changjiang were tried by the Shuangcheng Court in Heilongjiang Province on May 28th, 2012. Five lawyers were hired to defend them. Many people who heard about it wanted to sit in on the trial. As a result, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) security agencies were all on high alert and tried to prevent the crowd from entering the courthouse.

CCP Panics

The entire city's police force was dispatched and all the village heads were assigned the task of strictly managing the crowd in front of the courthouse.

On the morning of May 28th, the Shuangcheng Courthouse was surrounded by armed guards. There was a big fire engine parked in front of the courthouse. On one side was a grey, special police car.

A large number of special police came from the Provincial Public Security Department. The streets were filled with police and private cars. Police and plainclothes officers filled the streets, stores, and residential corridors. According to reliable sources, all the police from Shuangcheng City came to the courthouse for the trial. The private cars belonged to the heads of different departments. The atmosphere was very tense and forbidding.

In addition, hundreds of village heads from 24 towns in Shuangcheng City were summoned to the courthouse. Their duty was to take Falun Gong practitioners who came from their towns, back home, and to keep them from staying around the courthouse. Their other task was to ensure that no Falun Gong practitioners left the villages and went to the courthouse in the first place.

Practitioners Request that All Communist Party Members Be Removed from the Courtroom

The practitioners' families arrived for the trial at approximately 8:00 a.m. Because the practitioners had been detained for over six months, their families were very worried about them. When they were notified of the trial by the court, they were told that only one person from each family would be allowed in the courtroom. The families said that since the trial was open to the public, everyone had the right to sit in. Nevertheless, the bailiffs didn't allow them to enter. Only five family members (one from each household) were admitted to the courtroom after they were carefully searched.

The six practitioners then arrived at the courthouse. Two of them started shouting “Falun Gong is good!” as soon as they got out of the police car.

Ms. Jiang Xiaoyan was so emaciated that she was only skin and bones. She was so weak due to anemia that she couldn't even open her eyes. Her distressed younger sister called out, “Sister, be strong!” A swarm of bailiffs rushed up to her and removed her from the courtroom. Ms. Jiang's 82-year-old father, who came from out of town, received a notice to come to see his daughter but he was then not allowed to do so.

Ms. Ge Xin's husband hired a lawyer from Harbin to plead “guilty” on her behalf. Her husband also applied for a “civil agent” to defend her. When the trial began, Ms. Ge stated that she didn't agree to hire a lawyer. Her husband insisted that she had agreed, by signing her name. The trial judge asked her whether she had agreed for her husband to hire a lawyer to defend her. She said it was not necessary. The judge then asked her husband and the lawyer to leave the courtroom. The other five lawyers who had been hired to defend the other practitioners were greatly surprised by her courage. They then conscientiously took on the responsibility of defending her.

When the trial began, the judge told the practitioners that they had the right to request that CCP personnel not be present in the courtroom. All six practitioners responded by requesting that all communists party members leave the courtroom. They stated that they made this request because there was a conflict of interest between them and the CCP members. The judge was caught unprepared and decided to call for a five-minute break before proceeding. He quickly reported to his superior. One lawyer said that this was unprecedented in the history of Falun Gong-related cases.

Despite Being Silenced, Lawyers Cooperated to Reveal Details of the Persecution

The trial lasted over eight hours without a break. The lawyer who defended Tian Xiaoping was a diabetic, who needed to eat at certain times to stabilize his blood sugar. However, the Court disregarded his needs and refused to let him eat anything.

During the trial, the lawyers described the cruelty of the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners perpetrated by the communist authorities. The judge repeatedly hammered his desk in an attempt to keep them from revealing the facts. Nonetheless, they persisted. When one lawyer was silenced, another continued. At last, the judge had to have Luo Yanjie's and Yue Boqing's lawyers removed from the courtroom. A group of bailiffs rushed over to them, grabbed them, and threw them out. Their computers were confiscated.

After the trial, the practitioners shouted, “Falun Gong is good!” The lawyers were impressed by the righteous thoughts and faith of the practitioners, who defied life and death for their beliefs. The lawyers said, “Falun Gong practitioners are truly remarkable!”

People Want Practitioners to be Defended

The trial finished after 6:00 p.m. The lawyers spent a lot of time with the court to reclaim their computers. They then went back to the hotel and packed their bags. In a taxi on the way to the airport, one of the lawyers suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to return the hotel room key. The taxi driver understood that these lawyers had defended Falun Gong practitioners. He said, “Don't worry, I will return the key for you.” The lawyer was moved by his kindness.

As the lawyers were ready to leave Shuangcheng City, suddenly a lady came up to the car and wanted to share the ride with them. The lawyers politely agreed. When she learned that the lawyers were defending Falun Gong practitioners, she was very happy and called her family, “Do you know what? I am just so lucky today. Can you believe it? I am riding in the same car with the lawyers who helped defend the Falun Gong practitioners. They are truly great!”

People Involved in the Persecution

All heads and key people in the political and legal system in Heilongjiang Province were listed in and article titled “Supplemental Reading for the Eight Arrested Falun Gong Practitioners from Harbin,” contained within the investigation files for these cases. This was published on the Minghui website, and was one of the main reasons why the police used torture to try to extract confessions from the practitioners. Once again, we are publishing the list of those involved in the persecution.

People involved with the persecution of these practitioners:
From the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department: Sun Yigang, Liu Yudong, Liu Weiguo, Lin Zhiyong, Bo Qiyun, Mu Chunfu, Li Yongqiang, Guo Yongsheng, Sheng Hongbin, and Yao Renku
From Harbin Municipal Public Security Bureau: Zhou Zhijun, Yang Danbei, Liu Weiguo, Bai Wenjie, Zhang Qinglei, Gao Xiang, Liu Peimin, Yao Shoujun, Chang Yong, Lu Jun, Liu Guozhu, Sun Shiyou, and Yang Bo.
Huang Jiansheng, CPC Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of Political Committee
Provincial Politics and Legal Committee head: +86-451-82817997 (Office)