(Minghui.org) The police, the Procuratorate, and courts in Changchun City have cooperated to illegally arrest, detain, and sentence six Falun Gong practitioners since June 2013.
All of the practitioners are currently held at the No. 3 Detention Center in Changchun. They are Mr. Li Wei (sentenced on December 10, 2013, term unknown), Ms. Pang Li (October 17, 7 years), Ms. Yang Huili (November, 3.5 years), Mr. Yu Yingjie (November, 3.5 years), Ms. Wang Yajuan (November, 8 years) and Ms. Yao Changli (December 24, 3 years).
The following details from their cases outline some commonly used tactics employed by law enforcement and the judicial system to deprive practitioners of their legal rights.
Secret Trials—Constant Mystery Solving, After the Fact
In order to avoid Mr. Li Wei' s defense attorney pleading his innocence, the court in Changchun Economic and Technological Development Area held a session at 6 a.m. on December 10. Neither his family nor his attorney were notified, and the entire session took only 10 minutes.
Mr. Li was extremely weak and showed symptoms of serious heart disease, such as nausea and vomiting, in the court. He could not stand on his own and had to be held up by two court police. Mr. Li was carried out at the end of the trial.
Mr. Li's attorney managed to see him at the No. 3 Detention Center on December 11 and learned he had already been tried secretly the day before.
Ms. Yang Huili and Ms. Yu Yingjie were arrested in early November 2012 and have been detained at the No. 3 Detention Center. Their families managed to lodge a joint appeal at the beginning of November 2013.
However, before the appeal was handled, Chief Judge Chen Xiaojing called the families at the end of November and declared, “They have been sentenced. Feel free to appeal!” She hung up the phone and refused to answer any phone calls from them or their attorneys.
The Runaround—Defense Attorney and Family Left in the Dark
Around 10:00 a.m. on September 25, 2013, Ms. Pang Li's attorney went to the Chaoyang District Court to lodge legal procedures and called Chief Judge Chen Xiaojing to request Ms. Pang's case file.
Chen told him to wait because she needed to ask permission from her superiors. Ms. Pang's attorney waited for an hour, but when he called again, Chen refused to answer the phone. One of Ms. Pang's relatives and her attorney went to the Chaoyang District Court to make inquiries, but when the court called Chief Judge Chen, she still refused to answer the call. As a result, Ms. Pang's attorney was never able to view her case files.
However, the Chaoyang District Court held a secret session on October 17, 2013 and sentenced Ms. Pang to seven years in prison, without notifying either her family or her attorney.
After Ms. Pang's family heard that she had been sentenced, they went to the court to find out what happened. When the court staff learned the case was about a Falun Gong practitioner, they drove the relatives out of the building.
Similarly, Mr. Li Wei's family asked many times for a meeting with the presiding judge Hao Yanjun or other officers involved, but they were refused each time. Their phone calls were not answered. Even when they managed to get through, as soon as the court personnel on the phone heard they were Mr. Li's relatives, the phone calls were immediately disconnected.
No Legal Protection for Falun Gong Practitioners and Their Families
Mr. Li Wei made an appeal to the Changchun Intermediate Court, but the court staff members refused to accept the appeal application submitted by his attorney. They even threatened his family: If appeal documents were submitted, they would refuse to accept the documents and would tear up the paper and throw it into the trash. If it was about a Falun Gong case, they said they would also arrest the family members.
Attorneys for Ms. Wang Yajuan and Mr. Yu Yingjie lodged an appeal with the Changchun Intermediate Court on December 17, 2013. Court deputy head Zheng Wei called the attorneys later and said, “Don't come here any more. In Jilin Province, we don't allow attorneys from out of town to defend Falun Gong cases. We were nearly punished last time we accepted your submission by allowing you to mail us the defense pleadings.”
When Ms. Pang Li was arrested by the Baijulu police on June 3, 2013, her home was searched and many of her personal belongings were taken, including her computer, printer, her and her son's cell phones, her husband's stamp collection and over 100,000 yuan in cash.
Her husband went to demand the return of their personal property, but so far the police station has only returned 75,000 yuan. The rest of their belongings are still held by police.
Personnel involved:
Chen Xiaojing, Deputy Chief Judge of Chaoyang District Criminal Court: +86-431-88556278 (Office), +86-13844197778 (Cell) Hao Yanjun, judge of the Changchun Economic and Technological Development Area Court: +86-431-88559828 (Office), +86-13844894063 (Cell) Zheng Wei, staff at Changchun Intermediate Court: +86-431-88558645 (Office) (For more perpetrators' contact information, please refer to the original Chinese article)
