A Lawyer from Liaoning Province Sends a Letter to the Highest Judiciary Departments (Excerpt)

(Clearwisdom.net) Wang Yonghang (a lawyer who worked at the Qianjun law firm in Liaoning Province) published an open letter to the highest branches of China's judiciary in July of this year. The letter laid bare the absurdity of the CCP regime's manipulation of the legislative and judiciary systems to persecute Falun Gong. It revealed the tremendous mockery of justice that is being made, and labeled it clearly as the huge mistake that it is. He exposed the fundamental illegality of the persecution. He demanded that the highest judiciary departments recognize the severity of the problem, immediately correct their mistakes, and free all "illegally imprisoned" Falun Gong practitioners.

He pointed out how easily similar travesties of justice could be directed at other groups, citing Paragraph 1, Article 300 of the Criminal Law Code (regarding the treatment of Falun Gong believers) as a disgrace to all of China that will be remembered for thousands of years.

Earlier this year, in May, Wang's wife, a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested in Shanghai. In response, Wang he published an open letter to China's President Hu and Premier Wen. In this first open letter, he pointed out that by imposing criminal penalties on Falun Gong practitioners, they were being treated illegally. He demanded that the CCP immediately free all Falun Gong practitioners in detention. In response, Party officials brought great pressure to bear on his law firm, and Wang was fired. His license to practice law was taken away and rescinded.

At the end of 2007 I provided some legal help to a Falun Gong practitioner and noted from my painful experience the lack of legal protection for this suffering group. The basic rights the constitution confers on every citizen are not enjoyed fully by most citizens in actual practice. But for Falun Gong practitioners, these basic rights are almost nonexistent.

For years, Falun Gong practitioners have been charged with the crime of "using the organization of an evil cult to disrupt the execution of law." I studied the issues around this for several years. Under current Chinese law, I found--much to my surprise--a serious error. The language of Paragraph 1, Article 300 of the Criminal Law Code is not applicable to Falun Gong practitioners and is even a fatal mistake. I discussed this with every attorney I met and all my friends in the legal profession. None of them could refute or disagree with my view, but they tried very hard to dissuade me from opening up this most sensitive issue and said that we shouldn't touch the Falun Gong issue.

I intended to let the legislative authority know the seriousness of this mistake by attending court hearings. Much to my regret, attorneys are severely restricted from getting involved in Falun Gong cases. I was not even allowed to voice my opinion in court. On May 6 of this year, because of an urgent matter, I published an open letter to the highest leaders of our country. The letter set forth the absurdity of the law set forth in Paragraph 1, Article 300 of the Criminal Code that has been used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. In this way, I hoped that I could raise some concern about this issue. Two months have passed. I have received no reply to the issues I raised. Instead, the judiciary department arbitrarily rescinded my license to practice law at the time of my annual review and continues to hold it. I have been given no reason or explanation for this action.

During the two months that I was unable to practice law, I gave deep consideration to the legislative process and judicial path China had taken since "rule the country by law" was written into the constitution in 1999. What has occurred in the past nine years shows that the legal predicaments that Falun Gong practitioners are experiencing could be directed toward any other groups today, such as petitioners, litigants of influential group cases, Christians of underground family churches, and others. I can say that the lack of legal protection for Falun Gong adherents is the centerpiece of the legislative and judicial path China has taken since 1999.

Using my limited legal knowledge, I will again comprehensively analyze the incorrect application of the law as stated in Paragraph 1, Article 300 of the Criminal Code according to the criminal penalties imposed on Falun Gong practitioners. I point out the problem and urge the Supreme Court and the Supreme Procuratorate to face the reality, recognize the seriousness of the problem, correct the wrongs, and resolve this self-imposed plight. I am doing this because this matter involves the basic human rights of thousands upon thousands of Falun Gong practitioners and their families. It is also related to judicial authority respecting and maintaining the current law as well as issues involving the authority and dignity of judicial authority in exercising judicial power. It also involves the reputation of the entire legal profession in China, and whether future generations will be disgraced for what we are doing now.

(Introduction of background knowledge regarding Article 300 of the Criminal Law Code and details of legal analysis of the determination of the nature of Falun Gong practitioners' behavior.)

Wang Yonghang

July 17, 2008

Letter cc'd to:

Supreme People's Procuratorate: web@spp.gov.cn
China Court Website managed by the Supreme People's Court: tg.fzsp@chinacourt.org
China's National People's Congress Website: tgxx@npc.gov.cn
China Legal Education Website managed by Judiciary Department: pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn
Overseas NGO Dajiyuan Website: editor@epochtimes.com

Chinese version available at http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2008/9/12/185744.html

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