Police Assault Practitioners Attempting to Attend "Public Trial" at Yuetang District Court in Xiangtan County, Hunan Province

(Clearwisdom.net) On December 15, 2003, the Yuetang District Court put up an announcement saying that it would have an open trial of Falun Gong practitioners Mo Liqiong and Peng Shiqing. The announcement gave the time, place and information about the trial, and stated that it was open to the public.

At 2 p.m. on December 19, fifty to sixty Falun Gong practitioners arrived at the gate of the courthouse. The announcement clearly stated that the trial would begin at 2 p.m., but nothing happened after everybody waited for over an hour in front of the courthouse doors. It was not until 3:30 that a police vehicle arrived at the courthouse. The walkway behind the courtroom was already blocked with several desks, and many policemen guarded the entrance to the courtroom. After a little while, several policemen dragged Mo Liqiong and Peng Shiqing out of the car. They started to shout, "Falun Dafa is good" and "Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa." Fellow practitioners outside shouted in response and sent forth righteous thoughts together. The practitioners saw that Mo Liqiong and Peng Shiqing seemed to have been badly tortured, and yet they were still handcuffed with their hands behind their back. The practitioners explained the situation to the police again and again, and asked to attend the trial, but they were all denied entrance. The practitioners proposed to sign their names to get in the courtroom since they did not have their ID cards with them, but their request was rejected. The family members of Mo Liqiong and Peng Shiqing strongly requested to enter. After being searched all over, they finally managed to get into the room.

The Dafa practitioners decided to clarify the truth to the policemen, especially practitioner Zheng Zhenlin, who was at the front of the line. However, the policemen rushed out from behind the desks and tried to grab her, and pushed down several female practitioners. At that time, Zheng Zhenlin's husband, Cao Haifeng, tried to stop it and was grabbed by the police also. They pushed the couple into an office and shut the door. The curtains were then pulled down. Cao Haifeng was pushed to the floor by four or five policemen. Sounds of policemen kicking and punching the practitioners were heard clearly by the practitioners outside. Cao Haifeng was handcuffed, and his glasses were stepped on and broken. His pants were torn when they searched his body. His right eye, right cheek and feet were all injured. Zheng Zhenlin's hands were handcuffed behind her back. Seeing the brutal actions of the policemen, she spoke out loudly, "You beat a kind person so brutally and treat a man close to his sixties this way. Are you still the people's policemen? Where is your conscience?" The policemen refused to listen and threatened to tape her mouth shut. Both Zheng Zhenlin and Cao Haifeng were handcuffed.

After chasing away all of the Dafa practitioners out of the courthouse, the police shut the door and proceeded with the "public trial." Zheng Zhenlin and Cao Haifeng were detained for 15 days for allegedly "gathering, disturbing the peace and storming the courtroom."

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