(Minghui.org) Qingpu District Court officials illegally sentenced computer engineer Mr. Hou Junjie to three years in prison on August 31, 2012. His younger brother, Hou Mengqiang, from Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, was taken into custody by Shanghai plainclothes police officers for hiring a lawyer for his older brother.

Mr. Hou Junjie from Henan Province worked in Shanghai until he was arrested by Shanghai police on April 25, 2012. Qingpu Court officials tried him twice, on August 20 and again on August 31.

Lawyer Mr. Xiong Daiying from Chongqing who represented Mr. Hou Junjie pointed out in court that the Shanghai Procuratorate and Court had not allowed the lawyer to read the case files. From Mr. Hou's arrest to deciding the case, many of the procedures followed were not legitimate. Moreover, the Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau was not qualified to make the identification. Mr. Xiong said that the court should declare Mr. Hou Junjie innocent.

It was reported that the Qingpu District Procuratorate prosecuted Mr. Hou Junjie based on the following evidence: Mr. Hou sent files, including seven copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and other articles with photos, on QQ instant messenger [the most popular instant messenger in China] and downloaded Falun Gong content from the Internet, burned it onto DVDs, and mailed them out. Mr. Hou burned Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs. The police confiscated the following items: a mobile hard disc, a cell phone, 22 DVDs containing Falun Gong related articles, photos, and videos.

The August 31 trial lasted from about 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Head judge Wang Aizhen ignored the lawyer's reasonable arguments and handed Mr. Hou a three-year prison term. The charge against him was “organizing and using an evil cult organization to undermine the implementation of the country's law and regulations.”

Mr. Hou Junjie's younger brother, Hou Mengqiang, was arrested by Shanghai police on the evening of August 23. He was taken to Shanghai, but Shanghai police couldn't provide any reason for arresting him. They claimed that Mr. Hou Mengqiang would be detained for at least a month and would not be released until his older brother's “case” was settled and he paid a “fine.”

Related article: “Shanghai Computer Engineer Mr. Hou Junjie Illegally Tried, His Younger Brother Arrested for Hiring a Lawyer” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/9/2/135251.html