(Minghui.org) Ms. Song Jinfeng, Ms. Liang Huimin, Mr. Li Liguo, Mr. Xu Xiaohua, Mr. Zhao Jiurong, Ms. Cao Zeping and Mr. Liu Jun from Tonghe County in Heilongjiang Province were held in a prison for four months before being illegally sentenced.
All of the practitioners were beaten while in detention. Mr. Li's ribs were broken and he was taken to the Tonghe Hospital. Mr. Xu told his lawyer, who was hired by his family, that two of his teeth were knocked out. When Mr. Xu was writing his experiences of the persecution he suffered, his half-finished report was confiscated by the police.
Ms. Liang was handcuffed and locked in a small cell. She is currently on hunger strike.
Ms. Song, Ms. Liang, Mr. Li and Mr. Xu were residents of the Daowai District in Harbin City. On October 24, 2011, police from Tonghe County arrested them when they were seen distributing information about Falun Dafa and the persecution.
When the practitioners' families went to Tonghe Domestic Security Division to try to see their family members, the head of the domestic security division Liu Peimin and the deputy head Shao Fenghai denied their requests, claiming that they were in the process of investigating the incidents.
Family members went to Tonghe County Police Bureau on October 31, 2011, to request another family visit. This time, a domestic security officer threatened to arrest a family member. When another family member tried to stop them, he was beaten and arrested instead.
Ms. Song, Ms. Liang, Mr. Xu, Mr. Zhao, Ms. Cao and Mr. Liu were later held at the Second Harbin Detention Center, while Mr. Li was taken to the Tonghe County prison.
To keep the information about the arrest and the beatings a secret, Liu Peimin, Shao Fenghai, Political and Judiciary Committee Secretary Zhang Yue, the police department head and the Procurator arranged for a secret hearing which was held on February 23, 2012 at Harbin Daoli Court. The family members were not informed about the court hearing. On March 16, 2012, Ms. Song was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, Mr. Li was sentenced to five and a half years, and all of the other practitioners were sentenced to five years in prison.
