Mr. Han Laiqingg and His Wife Appeal Wrongful Conviction

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Han Laiqingg from Taigu County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, was wrongfully convicted by the Xinghualing Court of Taiyuang City on May 8, 2013. He and his wife have appealed the verdict. On June 18, his case was submitted to the Taiyuan City Intermediate Court.

Fabricated Evidence

Mr. Han was illegally arrested by officers from the Xinghualing Police Station on November 18, 2012. He was held at the Taiyuang No. 2 Detention Center.

His wife repeatedly went to the local police station and police department to demand his release. However, the police kept passing the responsibility back and forth.

Mr. Han has not confessed to any crime and police have no evidence of any wrongdoing. The Xinghualing Police Department and Procuratorate issued an arrest warrant based on fabricated charges. They did not notify Mr. Han’s family, in an attempt to prevent them from hiring a defense lawyer.

The Xinghualing District Police Department, Procuratorate and Court conspired to illegally try Mr. Han and sentence him to four years in prison on May 8, 2013. They waited seven days before issuing the verdict document to Mr. Han’s wife, even though she waited outside the court each day.

Mr. Han and his wife immediately decided to appeal.

A Wife's Anguish

Mr. Han’s wife met with Zhang Yongming, a judge of the Taiyuan City Intermediate Court, on the afternoon of June 26. It took much persistence and effort on her part to secure this meeting.

Mr. Han’s wife pointed out to Zhang that Mr. Han had been convicted without any evidence and purely based on the prosecutor’s assumptions.

She told the judge: “The right to practice Falun Gong is protected by Chinese Constitution. One cannot find any basis within the current laws as to why practicing Falun Gong would be illegal. Many righteous lawyers have defended Falun Gong practitioners. When law enforcement agencies and lawyers are supposedly following the same laws, why is there such a difference in interpretation? Why does the court have such disregard for human life?”

Judge Zhang callously replied, “It is not so serious. Isn’t it [the imprisonment] just for a few years?”

Mr. Han’s wife went to see Zhang almost everyday. She handed him her own letter of appeal, Mr. Han’s appeal letter, the defense she wrote for Mr. Han, letters to judges, and other documents. Zhang commented that he had never seen a family member of the accused put so much energy into writing all of those documents and visit the court every day.

Zhang said that he had done everything he could to make his superiors aware of Mr. Han’s case. A committee meeting with higher-level judges was scheduled to decide the outcome.

Zhang advised Mr. Han’s wife to wait patiently. She replied, “How can I be patient when my husband is suffering in prison? Does this make any sense?” The judge had nothing to say to her.

Parties involved in the persecution: Taiyuan City Intermediate Court: Zhang Yongming, judge: +86-[phone] Feng Shaoyong, director: [phone]

Xinghualing Court: [phone] Wang Quanzhu, chief judge: [phone]

Procuratorate Office: Prosecutor Guo Yunyan: [phone] Attorney General: [phone], [phone], [phone], [phone]

Xinghualing Police Department: [phone] Other numbers: [phone], [phone], [phone], [phone]

Taiyuan City No. 2 Detention Center： Controller: [phone] Wang Jiangang: [phone], Li Xirong: [phone] (ID# 14011219671005111X) Other numbers: [phone], [phone], [phone]