Mr. Gao Zhisheng, famous Chinese human rights attorney, was secretly put on trial and sentenced to three years imprisonment and five years of probation on December 22 for publishing a series of articles that speak out for Falun Gong and criticize the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution policy. He was deprived of his political rights (as a citizen) for one year. The Epoch Times strongly condemns the CCP's political actions in this case.
The CCP Xinhua News Agency mentioned in its published message that the main reason Attorney Gao was sentenced is that "he has written and published " Gao Zhisheng's Three Open Letters to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao ", "This Regime Has Never Stopped Killing People", and seven other articles. At his home, he accepted ten interviews from overseas media such as Radio Free Asia and Sound of Hope, providing them with content related to 'overthrowing the CCP regime'."
Attorney Gao Zhisheng's articles published on The Epoch Times reveal the largest forbidden terrain within the CCP to the international society: the persecution of Falun Gong. In "Gao Zhisheng's Three Open Letters to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao", he exhaustively exposed and condemned the brutal persecution by the CCP of Falun Gong practitioners. The CCP secretly guards all details regarding the arrest of Gao Zhisheng. It is another typical example of a case where free speech is penalized by a regime that claims to have the Olympic spirit.
As an attorney with a conscience, Gao Zhisheng has witnessed years of persecution toward peaceful Falun Gong practitioners while defending them. He addressed the real situation of the persecution to Chinese leaders in his public letters, a right that every Chinese citizen has according to the Constitution of China.
As an independent media registered in United States, The Epoch Times accepts and publishes a large number of articles from people in different fields all over the world, including attorney Gao Zhisheng. In democratic societies, this is common practice, but under the CCP's regime it becomes illegal.
We also point out that the secret trial and imprisonment of Gao Zhisheng is not only atrocious persecution of Gao Zhisheng and his family, but also a huge humiliation for Chinese law and the dignity of China, as well as an indirect suppression of overseas media to speak the truth about what is really happening in China.
The publication of The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (The Nine Commentaries) by The Epoch Times exposed the real nature of the CCP and ignited a trend of withdrawals from the CCP in China. It also caused huge panic inside the CCP itself, which has put The Epoch Times on its blacklist. The CCP has since attacked people, groups and volunteers that support The Epoch Times . The Epoch Times strongly condemns this rascal behavior of the CCP. At the same time, we solemnly declare that The Epoch Times' principle of reporting the truth about China will not be affected by the CCP's scoundrel behavior.
We also note that in the articles attorney Gao submitted to The Epoch Times , besides condemning the communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong, Gao also wrote about a most horrible and ruthless crime: the CCP's extraction of organs from a large number of still living Falun Gong practitioners, and the sale of those organs for huge profits.
After this crime was first brought to the surface, Attorney Gao continuously wrote articles disclosing and condemning the crime. He also expressed his willingness to join the Coalition to Investigate Organ Harvesting from Still Alive People. The disclosure of the practice of organ extraction was a heavy blow to the CCP. It is what the CCP fears the most. We have seen that Attorney Gao was arrested during the time when the investigation into the organ harvesting had made tremendous breakthroughs.
On August 15, 2006, an independent Canadian investigation group discussed with parties in Australia to co-investigate the CCP's organ harvesting crime. The Chinese communist regime arrested Attorney Gao at this very moment to distract people's attention from the practice. In fact, the Chinese communist party was forced to admit that they had been using criminals sentenced to death for organ extraction. Since the number of organ transplants and the number of criminals sentenced to death do not add up, it is logical to conclude that the regime is getting its organs elsewhere: in this case they are harvested from still alive Falun Gong practitioners. Many facts have already indicated that in labor camps and prisons in China, Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily tortured and slaughtered to death. It is also noted that since Gao's illegal arrest on August 15 to the date of his secret trial, his family has never obtained any legal documents regarding the case. At the time of the trial, his family and attorney were not present at court. The court even refused to answer the inquiry of Gao's wife on the sentencing date and also did not reveal name of the attorney that was appointed to Gao.
During the time Gao Zhisheng was detained, the CCP ordered spies to use dirty tricks to intimidate his family, and these spies forcefully lived in Gao's home. They monitored Gao's wife, Geng He, and their two young children Gege and Tianyu 24 hours a day. What is even more obscene is that CCP spies beat Gao's wife and young child Gege in public.
The secret trial and sentencing of Gao by the CCP indicates that it was never justified in the first place. For the CCP, the law is nothing but a tool to suppress good people.
The CCP is at the verge of collapse now that almost 17 million people have withdrawn from the CCP, the CCP's Youth League, and the CCP's Young Pioneers. By illegally sentencing Gao on December 22 (the Winter Solstice), the CCP is digging its own grave even deeper. The Epoch Times believes that along with the wide spread of The Nine Commentaries and the wave of people withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, the disintegration of the CCP will surely come. More and more righteous people will dare to stand up to face this malicious regime and expose the truth about it.
As always, we will carry out our mission of telling the truth. We will continue to publish and report the real facts in and about China, and continue to pay attention to Gao's case, until he and his family obtain true freedom.
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