(Clearwisdom.net) Several lawyers from Beijing defended practitioners Mr. Kao Fuquan, Ms. Song Guihua and Ms. Yang Lanxiang in Zhaoyuan City Court. The lawyers jointly wrote a letter in December 2010 to the Yantai City Intermediate Court and Procuratorate, Shandong Provincial High Court and Procuratorate, Beijing Supreme Court and Procuratorate, Public Security Department, Political Consultative Committees and the People's Committees at all levels, accusing the Zhaoyuan Court officials, the Procuratorate and the police of jointly breaking the law, by preventing the lawyers from being able to meet with their clients, to have access to documents, and to attend court hearings.

Mr. Kao, Ms. Song, Ms. Yang and five other practitioners from Zhaoyuan were illegally arrested by agents from the local 610 Office between May and August, 2010. They were held in separate cells at the Lingnan Gold Mine Brainwashing Center in Linglong Town for a long time, where they were beaten, tortured and interrogated. For the entire time of their detention, their families were denied visitation rights.

In view of these facts:

1. Several practitioners' families have hired lawyers from Beijing following the practitioners' arrests in May 2010. The lawyers requested to meet with the practitioners, but Qin Hongmin, head of the local detention center, refused to make arrangements for their meetings.

2. Judge Liu Yongwen, who handled the case, rejected the lawyers' request to get access to the court records.

3. Several practitioners were transferred to a secret location prior to the court hearing, and the practitioners' families and lawyers were not informed of their whereabouts.

4. Zhaoyuan Court officials lied to the lawyers, claiming that the accused practitioners did not want to hire lawyers and did not agree to their family members hiring lawyers for them.

5. Zhaoyuan Court officials held a secret trial on December 5, 2010 at Zhaoyuan Detention Center.

The lawyers from Beijing submitted a formal document regarding the unlawful acts committed by officials from the Zhaoyuan Court, Procuratorate and the detention center. The document goes as follows:

First, Zhaoyuan Court officials deprived the accused practitioners of their right to a defense and deprived the attorneys of their right to provide a defense for the accused. The court illegally detained the accused and held a secret trial for them.

By claiming that the accused practitioners did not want to hire a lawyer and thus not allowing their lawyers to meet with them, Zhaoyuan Court officials deprived the practitioners of their legal right to legal defense. It is a violation of the Chinese constitution and their basic rights as citizens.

Prior to the court hearing, Zhaoyuan Court officials held the practitioners at an unknown location instead of a detention center, which constitutes an illegal detention.

Zhaoyuan Court officials secretly held a trial on a weekend, and officials from the Zhaoyuan Police Department denied the practitioners' families' request to observe the court procedures, and denied the lawyers' request to be involved.

Second, Zhaoyuan Detention Center officials deprived the lawyers of the right to meet with their clients.

Zhaoyuan Police Department Detention Center is only an executive branch that provides temporary custody of criminal suspects and the accused prior to trial. When a lawyer applies for a meeting with their clients, there is no valid reason for the detention center officials to reject their request. They deprived the lawyers of their right to meet their clients, and also deprived the accused of their human rights while they were detained.

Third, when the lawyers accused the detention center officials for refusing to arrange a meeting with their clients, the Zhaoyuan Procuratorate officials ignored the lawyers and did not correct the detention center officials' unlawful deeds.

During the period when the Zhaoyuan Procuratorate reviewed the case, the accused, Mr. Kao Fuquan, was illegally detained. The procurators knew that this detention was illegal, but they still allowed the illegal activity to continue.

The Beijing lawyers stated at the end of their document: in order to safeguard the dignity of the law, the relevant departments are requested to investigate the officials of various departments in the Zhaoyuan Court, the Procuratorate, the Public Security Bureau and the actual executors with regards to their criminal responsibility.

Those responsible:

Liu Yongwen, deputy head and chief judge of Zhaoyuan Court Criminal Court
Qin Hongmin, head of Zhaoyuan Detention Center
Zhuang Shaoguang, head of Zhaoyuan Domestic Security Division
Song Shaochang, deputy head 610 Office

Sun Baodong, head of Zhaoyuan Police Department
Wang Lichen, head of Zhaoyuan Court
Wang Jialin, head of Zhaoyuan Procuratorate