(Minghui.org) Ms. Yang Jian, an engineer from Tianjin City, was illegally tried on February 20, 2017, by the Wuqing District Court. Ms. Yang, a Falun Gong practitioner, was on trial for posting information in 2016 about suing Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who initiated the brutal 17-year persecution of Falun Gong.
Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea and stated that he and his client would sue the perpetrators. Ms. Yang’s parents were present in court to support their daughter.
Ms. Yang was previously sentenced to five years for her belief. She was beaten and tortured in prison, and as a result, suffered a mental collapse and almost died.
She told the prosecutor in court, “The good people who practice Falun Gong are jailed; the bad people who persecute Falun Gong are still free.”
Heated Argument Between Prosecutor and Defense
The prosecutor, Sun Ying, read the indictment and recommended that the court sentence Ms. Yang to between three-and-half and five-and-a-half years in prison.
Ms. Yang’s defense lawyer retorted, “Which law are you using to decide my client’s imprisonment term? Is it based on the law of criminal procedure? I may well sue you if you abuse your power.”
Sun accused Ms. Yang of displaying boards with information about the former Chinese leader in front of the Police Department, the Procuratorate and the District Hall. She said she had evidence from the police who followed Ms. Yang, and that her fingerprints were on the boards.
The defense attorney said, “If the police followed her, her why didn't they stop her on the spot? Following my client to get evidence is entrapment. How can the prosecutor entrap my client?”
Her defense lawyer continued, “As far as the poster content, my client was informing the public about specific news and events. What she did is no different than talking over the Internet or contacting people by mail. In fact, some officials who followed Jiang Zemin's orders have already been charged with other crimes.”
The defense attorney then declared loudly, “Clerk, please record that I will sue the Meichang Police Station and the prosecutor.”
The prosecutor left quickly as soon as the argument was finished.
About 150 supporters gathered around the court in spite of it being an extremely cold and windy day. Only a few of them were allowed inside.
The presiding judge was Yin Jian, who had previously sentenced two Falun Gong practitioners in secret, without notifying their defense lawyers. Local Falun Gong practitioners reported Yin to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Supreme Prosecutor’s office, and the Supreme Court, citing abuse of power.
Yin Jiang changed her attitude during Ms. Yang's trial. She allowed the defense lawyer to communicate with his client before the trial started.
Persecuted for Her Belief
After Ms. Yang Jian graduated from college she worked for a state-owned enterprise as an engineer. She began practicing Falun Gong in 1997. When the persecution began in 1999, she was fired from her workplace and her husband divorced her. Ms. Yang and her daughter had nowhere to live but with her parents.
Ms. Yang was arrested by officers from the Meichang Police Station and the Wuqing Domestic Security Division on September 15, 2010. She was wrongly sentenced to five years. Nine guards held her down and applied an unknown substance to her eyes and nose. She could not breathe and nearly died. She was released on November 30, 2015.
On June 25, 2016, Ms. Yang Jian and another Falun Gong practitioner were illegally arrested by officers from the Meichang Police Station and the Wuqing District Criminal Police for posting information boards about suing Jiang outside of the police station, the Procuratorate, the court, and the district hall.
The police wrapped her up with tape and locked her in a metal cage. The Procuratorate then issued the approval permits to arrest her.
Ms. Yang’s attorney read her case file at the Wuqing District Procuratorate and concluded that all of the evidence against her was falsified. He reported his findings to the Procuratorate, which then returned the case to the Wuqing District Police Department.
