On July 28, 2002, somewhere in Hebei, the local TV station broadcast the “True Story of Falun Dafa” video [Falun Gong is also Known as Falun Dafa]. Afterwards, the Hebei police seized 17 local Falun Gong practitioners. After being imprisoned for 10 months, on July 15, 2003, the Hebei Xushui County court conducted a closed trail on these 17 practitioners. Unexpectedly, the Falun Gong practitioners played the same material again.
The Minghui Net reported that the Chief of the Xushui County court in Hebei Province was the presiding judge in the trial. There were more than 10 legal police officers in the courtroom and 17 lawyers that the court appointed to the 17 Falun Gong practitioners. Although the court appointed those lawyers to the practitioners, lawyers are not allowed to represent Falun Gong practitioners and these lawyers even condemned the practitioners’ actions. As a result several practitioners chose to defend themselves.
According to the report, the practitioners told everyone present, “Falun Gong promotes Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance; it tells people to be compassionate. It can only do good to the country and society. Dafa has spread out in more than 60 countries worldwide and is forbidden only in China. Jiang Zemin, out of his personal jealousy, used the power within his authority to bring false charge against [Falun] Dafa and begin the persecution of practitioners.” They also demonstrated the benefits of Falun Gong from their personal experiences and showed how they were persecuted after the Chinese government started the suppression. However, every time they mentioned Jiang Zemin’s name, the presiding judge would interject abruptly.
The court exhibited 4 VCDs that appeared to be no different to normal CDs. When asked to verify that the content of the VCDs was related to Falun Gong, two practitioners said that they could not determine this from looking at the CDs and suggested that if the court wanted to verify the content then the best course of action would be to actually play the CDs. Upon hearing that the VCDs were to be played in the courtroom, more than ten plain clothes policemen also joined the other people to watch.
After seeing the coverage of a few topics on the CD, such as the Tiananmen self–immolation and the worldwide spread of Dafa and seeing the interest with which the court participants were watching, the presiding judge nervously called a halt to the viewing. When the practitioners wanted to talk further about the content of the CD, the court personnel hurriedly adjourned the court.
It is also reported that the record of proceedings that the practitioners were asked to sign was not what had actually transpired and the practitioners refused to put their name to the record. The practitioners are still imprisoned in the Xushui detention center.
Tapping into the TV broadcast was viewed as a heroic act.
Seeing the broadcast, some individuals from China using the internet wrote: “When the images from “Lawsuit against Jiang” appeared on the education station in Beijing in August, there were so many people using all means possible (including running) to tell their relatives and friends to watch” and “We all respect those anonymous heroes who broke the blockade of the Chinese Communist Party. Thanks to you heroes! I hope you develop new techniques and let the Chinese people see the truth!”
Source: Epochtimes.com
Posting date:14/Oct/2003
Original article date: 12/Oct/2003
Category: Media Report
