The intermediate court of Haikou City, the capital of China's southernmost Hainan Province, recently began to handle the case of four local Falun Gong activists.

The court procedures began after the municipal procuratorate decided to prosecute the four cult members.

The four defendants, Song Yuesheng, Jiang Shilong, Chen Yuan and Liang Yulin, are charged with using an evil religion to violate the law.

They are said to have defied a Ministry of Public Security ban on Falun Gong and organized many illegal gatherings of Falun Gong practitioners, including one in a local park on August 8 attended by 183 people.

Song is also charged with escaping from police custody, while the other three helped Song in his flight.

The four were formally arrested by the city's Public Security Bureau with the approval of the municipal procuratorate.