(Minghui.org) A Tangshan City resident testified in his own defense during his trial for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Mr. Li Xiaoxian started to practice Falun Gong in April 1996 after he witnessed how the practice cured his wife’s asthma and bronchitis. His health soon improved, too. His stomach ailment was gone, and he got his hearing back. An improved health also lifted his spirits, and he became a much happier person.
Having had firsthand experience with Falun Gong, Mr. Li never shied away from sharing his personal stories. This simple act, however, landed him in police custody numerous times. He was last arrested on April 1, 2016.
Mr. Li’s two lawyers defended his innocence. They argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that their client should never have been prosecuted for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief. They demanded his acquittal.
The supposedly open trial on December 2 was closed to the public. The judge barred Mr. Li’s wife from entering the gallery, claiming that she was considered a prosecution witness. She asked to see her husband at the end of the hearing but was turned away.
Family members and local Falun Gong practitioners, who were waiting outside during the over three-hour-long hearing, called out “Release Li Xiaoxian” as the police drove him away.
Related Report:Arrested Again: Mr. Li Xiaoxian from Tangshan City
