Because one of the lawyers had visited the United States in 2005 for advanced training, local CCP authorities claimed that he had "background and overseas forces' support."

Husband and Wife Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong 

The Tancheng County Court in Shandon Province tried Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Zhang Binglan and Mr. Sun Dejian (husband and wife) from Maoci Village on November 11, 2009. Two lawyers from Beijing defended their innocence, but in 2010 the court decided to sentence Ms. Zhang to an eight-and-a-half-year sentence and Mr. Sun to a three-year sentence, with five years of probation. The judges were Zhou Zhenshan and Xu Li. The prosecutor was Bu Yulian. Ms. Zhang Binglan is held at the Linyi Detention. Their family members plan to appeal.

The couple's defense lawyers had argued during the November trial that Ms. Zhang and Mr. Sun had the right to believe in and promote Falun Gong, that they were not guilty of any illegal activity. The powerful defense overwhelmed the prosecutors and judges, who were speechless. The court did not reach a conclusion, saying that they would review and issue a verdict later. The verdict came two months later. We hereby call for an investigation of those who participated in the illegal sentencing decision and any behind-the-scenes pressure.

A Happy Family Destroyed

Mr. Sun and Ms. Zhang began to practice Falun Gong in 2004, five years after the persecution started. Once they became practitioners they loved and respected each other more, and theirs was a happy family. Other villagers witnessed a dramatic improvement in their health, appearance, and happy mood, and could not help but note, "Having seen the changes in you, we know Falun Gong is good."

During the summer of 2009, their 16-year-old daughter, Sun Xinjuan, placed a few Falun Gong informational flyers in Tancheng Middle School where she was taking her final exam. She wanted to let her teachers and classmates learn the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong.

School principal Li Peilai and deputy principal Xu Zhilu reported this to the 610 Office on June 9, 2009, and turned the 16-year-old girl in. She ended up in the Dongguan Police Station.

In custody and intimidated, Sun Xinjuan was forced to tell the police that her materials came from her mother. Zhu Jun and several other police officers searched her home and arrested her parents. They also confiscated Falun Gong books, other informational materials, a satellite dish, and a few home appliances. During the same raid the police also arrested an elderly practitioner, Ms. Ma Guiju, from Maoci Village. They then climbed over a fence to enter the home of Sun Changfu and Huang Guilan.

After 30 days in temporary detention, Ms. Ma Guiju was transferred to another detention center for an additional 15 days. Her ailing husband was bedridden for a long time. Since his wife was incarcerated and no one was around to care for him, his health declined rapidly. He died around the 2009 Mid- Autumn holiday.

Mr. Sun Dejian was released on parole a month later. He had to work to support his two school-aged children. Because his wife was incarcerated, he had to stay at home to care for his 8-year-old son, unable to work outside the home. The family's quality of life is now in jeopardy. The 16-year-old daughter, Sun Xinjuan, was released following a month-long incarceration at Linyi Brainwashing Center. She had to discontinue her schooling and go to work. She is also required to report to the local 610 Office on a monthly basis. The family is suffering from the forced separation and financial difficulties.

Beijing Lawyers: "Not Guilty" for Practicing and Defending Falun Gong

During the trial,  Prosecutor Bu Yulian accused Ms. Zhang Binglan and Mr. Sun Dejian of "Sabotaging law enforcement using an evil cult." Ms. Zhang's crime was making and distributing Falun Gong information, which exposed the persecution of Falun Gong. Her husband built a secret wall compartment to hide these materials and also had turned his salary over to his wife. This became "criminal evidence."

Ms. Zhang Binglan's sister, Zhang Bingquan, hired two lawyers: Cheng Hai from the Beijing Zhoushifeng Law Firm and Li Jinglin from the Haochang Law Firm to plead for her sister and brother-in-law. The lawyers pointed out that the prosecutors' charges were groundless and without legal basis and declared the defendants innocent.

The lawyers demanded an explanation from the prosecutors as to how their clients had sabotaged any specific law. They also demanded to know the specific laws on which the defendants' charges were based. The prosecutors could not answer these questions.

Instead of citing the law, the prosecutors accused the practitioners of promoting Falun Gong and defaming Communist leaders. The lawyers asked, "Which leaders did my clients defame? How did they defame these leaders?" The defense attorneys demanded legal evidence to support these accusations. The prosecutors had nothing to say.

The couple began to practice Falun Gong for health reason; once cured they told their stories to many others. The lawyers asked, "What they did was a good thing, was it not? They should tell others about how they benefited. How can you accuse them of wrongdoing? Isn't that absurd?"

The plaintiff's document states that the following events took place: first, police arrested the practitioners and then tried to collect "evidence." Therefore, any evidence and witnesses were invalid for court use. The police could not demonstrate that the evidence linked the defendants, and the witnesses' testimonies were unrelated to the defendants and therefore invalid. Arresting people without evidence is against the law. In light of all the shaky legal procedures, the charges against the defendants were wrong; the practitioners should be freed.

After the attorneys presented their case, the prosecutors were rendered speechless. There was complete silence in the courtroom. The practitioners' family realized the practitioners' innocence. They walked up to the judges after a brief moment and asked for their immediate release. Emotions were high; the room became chaotic. The court police led the practitioners away. A judge kept saying apologetically, "Please go home and we will discuss this further."

Outside of the courthouse people were talking about the successful defense. They were glad to see justice prevail in the debate.

Jiansanjiang Court in Heilongjiang Province Force Jiang Xinbo's Husband to Dismiss Lawyers

Jiansanjiang Court in Heilongjiang Province scheduled a trial for Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Jiang Xinbo from Qianjin Town on December 1, 2009. Her husband hired two lawyers from Beijing to enter a not-guilty plea. He wrote about the positive changes his wife experienced after practicing Falun Gong and circulated it among his colleagues at Qianjin Middle School where his wife also worked before her arrest. More than 40 teachers signed the document to show their support and sympathy.

Once they learned the husband had retained two lawyers, agents from the Court, the Domestic Security Team, and the CCP Political and Judiciary Committee were worried that their persecution of Ms. Jiang, an excellent teacher, would be exposed. Not only did they postpone the trial date, but they also went online to check on the lawyers. Since one of the lawyers had visited the United States in 2005 for advanced training, they claimed that he had "background and overseas forces' support," and began their attempts to prevent Ms. Jiang Xinbo's husband from hiring them to defend his wife.

They first exerted pressure on Qianjin Middle School officials. As a result, the school gathered the 43 teachers who signed the husband's statement and ordered them to write repentance letters. Ms. Jiang's husband was also ordered to write a repentance letter, which he did under great duress and against his will. But the school officials told him the letter wasn't good enough and forced him to re-write it. In the meantime they threatened to fire him if he didn't dismiss the lawyers. Even so, he still insisted on retaining them.

Seeing that nothing had worked so far, agents from the above-mentioned organizations then sent people to abduct Ms. Jiang's husband, who had already been suspended from teaching. While at Jiansanjiang Court they further intimidated him, telling him the court would hand his wife a heavy sentence, no matter how hard the lawyers tried to defend her. They also pressured Ms. Jiang's relatives at the same time. Unable to bear the pressure this time, her husband signed his name to the pre-written agreement to dismiss the lawyers.

Having achieved their goal, they planned to convene the trial on January 16, 2010. Fearing that other practitioners would come to the court to expose the officials' crimes, they began to harass and arrest local practitioners on the afternoon of January 11, 2010. They seized nine practitioners in two days: Cao Xiufang, Sun Xianhua, Zhang Lihua, Zhang Xizeng, Han Shujuan, and Zhang Yanqiu from Jiansanjiang, and Eng Xianjie, Pan Shurong, and a practitioner surnamed Lu from Qianjin Town. They held them at the Jiansanjiang Detention Center and at the Qianjin Town Detention Center, respectively.

Ms. Han Shujuan and her father were home when agents appeared to arrest her. She tried to resist, but no one could overcome the efforts of the more than ten policemen who took her away. Ms. Han is now at Beihao Detention Center. Her father, in his 70s, is paralyzed on one side of his body and badly needs help.

While on her way to a market, Ms. Meng Xianjie and her husband thought to stop by her workplace to see the CCP secretary. They didn't find the secretary but were shocked to find numerous police officers when they came downstairs. More than 30 men surrounded her, while eight other agents kept her husband away from her. They took her husband to the reception room of her workplace and refused to let him leave until around ten minutes later. They then took Ms. Meng to the local detention center.

Ms. Pan Shurong was working in her own family-owned shop when 610 Office head Shi Ping and six police officers broke in. They smashed the glass on the door and the windows and carried her away.

Jiansanjiang Legal Education Training Center

Jiansanjiang CCP Political and Judiciary Committee Head Wang Jialin

Qixing Police Department Political Head Guo Yuzhong

Qianjin Farm Police Station Political Head Su Yigang

Shi Ping, 610 Office head