(Minghui.org) A Hulin City, Heilongjiang Province resident stood trial on November 18, 2020 for her faith in Falun Gong. A video of the police beating Ms. Guan Yanfeng during an interrogation was played during the hearing.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Guan was arrested on July 12, 2020 in a police sweep of Falun Gong practitioners. The Hulin City Procuratorate approved her arrest on August 12 and later forwarded her case to the Jidong County Court after indicting her.
Ms. Guan was tried through a virtual hearing by the Jidong County Court on November 18. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. Ms. Guan's daughter acted as her second defender but wasn’t allowed to attend the hearing except during the portion when it was time to present her defense argument. Ms. Guan’s sister-in-law was the only one in her family allowed to attend the hearing.
The prosecutor accused Ms. Guan of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” the standard charge leveled at Falun Gong practitioners. Both Ms. Guan and her lawyer refuted the charge, stating that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong or labeled it as a cult. The judge insisted that they have legal basis for the designation, but was unable to provide any supporting evidence.
Regarding the Falun Gong informational materials listed as “prosecution evidence” against her, Ms. Guan said, “I wasn’t home when the police searched it. Some of the items weren’t mine. I didn’t sign the list of confiscated items either.”
The judge claimed that Ms. Guan's husband signed the list for her, but her lawyer argued that her husband has suffered a brain injury and lacks basic cognitive ability, so his signature shouldn’t be considered as a valid piece of evidence.
Ms. Guan also pointed out that a Domestic Security Division officer surnamed Niu beat her, in an attempt to extract a confession from her. The judge denied that there was an officer surnamed Niu. But when they played the video of the police interrogating Ms. Guan, it’s shown that officer Niu savagely beat Ms. Guan twice. Ms. Guan’s lawyer argued that this invalidated any confession that Ms. Guan was forced to make, as it was extracted through violence.
Ms. Guan’s daughter was outraged upon hearing about the police beating her mother. She is now preparing to file a complaint against officer Niu.
During the hearing, police patrolled outside of the courthouse and attempted to arrest local Falun Gong practitioners who came to show their support for Ms. Guan.
Related report:
Hulin City, Heilongjiang Province: Ten Arrested and Five Harassed in Two Days
