(Minghui.org) Seven Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in our city two years ago. Practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts and mailed letters to various government departments explaining Falun Gong and the persecution.
Three practitioners were released five days later.
Practitioners proceeded to clarify the facts and cooperated well with one another. As a result, two more practitioners were released. However, the authorities planned to sentence the two remaining practitioners to lengthy prison terms.
The two practitioners were kept in isolation. Practitioners discussed the matter and decided to hire a lawyer from Beijing, and asked that he plead not guilty for the practitioners in court.
However, a practitioner whose family member works at a police department insisted that they hire a local lawyer and plead guilty to get a shorter sentence.
Fellow practitioners discussed the matter and thought pleading guilty would be admitting that they did something wrong. They sent forth righteous thoughts and continued to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to the authorities.
Practitioners Freed After Lawyers Plead Not Guilty
During the first session of the trial, the lawyer from Beijing actively defended his clients, while the local lawyer did not say much.
In the next two sessions, the two practitioners were not sentenced because fellow practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts and continued to clarify the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution.
We sent a letter to the director of the local law office and the lawyer himself to explain the persecution. A fellow practitioner mailed him a handwritten letter to dissuade him from pleading guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence.
During the fourth session, the local lawyer pleaded not guilty. Court officers announced that a decision would be made within three days by a collegial panel of nine judges.
We read an article on the Minghui website about a lawyer who defended practitioners with an incisive statement and a brilliant exposition. We printed the article and sent it to those nine judges.
The panel decided to release the practitioners.
