(Minghui.org) A Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province resident stood trial on April 19, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Mr. Shi Keqin was shocked when the prosecutor said that he had destroyed the Falun Gong books confiscated from Mr. Shi.

Shortly after Mr. Shi went to visit a friend on May 17, 2022, a police officer showed up at the friend’s home and asked him some questions. The officer then left. When Mr. Shi left his friend’s home, he was stopped by the security guard in the residential complex, who asked for his address and phone number. In the afternoon, a group of officers broke into his home and confiscated his over 140 Falun Gong books, computer and printer.

As the local detention center refused to admit him due to the local COVID-19 outbreak, Mr. Shi was held at the police hospital for 21 days. His arrest was approved on June 2 and he was released on bail on June 9. The police submitted his case to the Beidaihe Procuratorate on November 15, 2022.

Mr. Shi’s case was transferred to the Funing District Procuratorate on January 5, 2023. He was indicted on March 15.

During his hearing on April 19, Mr. Shi pointed out that the Falun Gong books confiscated from him were his lawful possessions and should not be listed as prosecution evidence against him. He challenged prosecutor Wang Qi to present and read some parts of the books in court to see whether they contained harmful information as alleged in the indictment, yet Wang said that he had destroyed those books. [Editor’s note: Falun Gong books teach people to live by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and perhaps Wang didn’t want court spectators to see there was nothing illegal about the books.]

In addition, the document that identified the books as “cult materials” only had an official stamp of the Qinhuangdao Domestic Security Office, without the signature of any individual officer. No officer appeared in court for cross examination, either. 

While the prosecutor claimed that the document didn’t need anyone’s signature, Mr. Shi’s family defender argued that the document then had no legal bearing. He said that whoever worked on the verification of the books as “cult materials” must present proof of their identity and credentials as required by law. The defender also pointed out that there was obvious conflict of interest when the Domestic Security Office that arrested Mr. Shi also provided authentication of prosecution evidence. By law, only an independent, third party can provide forensic authentication services. 

Mr. Shi said that the police forged his signature on his interrogation record. His defender requested four times that he be allowed to examine in court whether the signatures were that of Mr. Shi’s, yet neither the prosecutor nor the judge responded to him. 

Mr. Shi stated that no Chinese law has ever identified Falun Gong as a cult and that the General Administration of Press and Publication had lifted the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011, which further supported his argument that it was completely legitimate to have Falun Gong books at home. 

Judge Lin Shuangquan accused Mr. Shi of talking too much and constantly interrupted him. Most of his defense statement wasn’t recorded in the court proceedings.