(Minghui.org) Mr. Wang Guiqi was put on trial at the Tianjin 2 nd Middle Court on the morning of November 4 th 2013. Relatives and friends of Mr. Wang applied to attend, however court officials used all kinds of means to prevent this. Finally, only one of his relatives was able to attend the trial.
The trial lasted almost three hours. In the beginning, the presiding judge appeared to be truculent. He kept interrupting the practitioner and his lawyers' defense. Mr. Wang and his two lawyers, Xie Yanyi and Li Hongbing, were not distracted and made a strong defense. They told the judge and other clerks that this case was an injustice and they were persecuting good people; therefore, their behavior would be punished by heaven. Everyone in the court was shocked and people became clear and understood what was going on. Court officials did not render a verdict as planned, but announced that they would discuss the case.
After the trial was over, lawyer Xie Yanyi submitted an indictment in which she accused the legal system staff of abusing their power. She mentioned that this case was an injustice, and that they had caused severe damage to her client and his family. Their action also had a negative impact on society, and they had already committed a crime because they misused the law.
Lawyer Xie said that it is not her goal to sue those people, but her goal was to awaken those people, so they will realize that they are persecuting good people and will pay for the crimes they have committed.
Mr. Wang is a technician who worked at the power stations of the Dagu chemical plant in Tanggu District. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, he was arrested and detained five times and put in a labor camp twice. His wife, Yin Guanghua, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by the Tanggu District Court and has been kept in the Tianjin Women's prison since December 8, 2011.
Li Zhenmin, a police officer from the Domestic Security Division, Tanggu District; Feng Zhiping and Zheng Kaiyan, police officers from the Hangzhoudao Police Station; Si Dongwei, a police officer from the Daliangzi Police Station and some people from the local community committee searched Mr. Wang's house on November 21, 2012. They stole his personal belongings, including ten thousand yuan cash (Wang's family requested it back later). Mr. Wang's 80-year old mother is paralyzed, and has nobody now that can take care of her. Mr. Wang's sister and other relatives also submitted an appeal to different departments requesting his release.
However, the Tanggu District Court secretly opened a trial for Mr. Wang without notifying his family on March 21, 2013. They designated a lawyer to defend him. His family later hired two lawyers from Beijing. These lawyers went to the Tanggu Court on April 25 and May 8 and requested the documents related to this case. They also submitted a Legal Opinion on Reopening Trial for Wang Guiqi's case . However, judge Li Hongliang (phone: +86-22-65270984) said the case was already sent to the middle court, thus denying their request.
Mr. Wang's family received a notice on July 29 that Mr. Wang was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The two Beijing lawyers ,Xie Yanyi and Li Hongbing, requested that a court session be reopened for Mr. Wang's case and submitted appellate papers. Officials of the Tianjin second Middle Court notified the lawyers on August 30 that they could see the documents of this case. This was the first time the court had allowed these lawyers to read the documents. The lawyers requested that the court organize a collegiate panel in order to make the case a public trial and allow Mr. Wang's family to attend. The court did not respond to their request at that time.
It is the legal right of a defendant to have a public trial. However, CCP officials commanded Ding Binghua, the director of the Tianjin 2nd Middle Court who is in charge of Mr. Wang's case, to threaten Mr. Wang and his lawyers so that they would give up their request for a public trial. On September 22, Ding Binghua met the two lawyers and Mr. Wang's family. She threatened the lawyers not to defend Mr. Wang, otherwise she would cancel their right to defend him.
The two lawyers replied that it was their duty to defend an innocent person, and it is definitely the right thing to do based on humanity and the law. Due to the strong requests of the lawyers as well as Mr. Wang, the Tianjin 2 nd Middle Court had to agree to hold a public trial on November 4, 2013.
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