(Minghui.org) Seven Falun Gong practitioners from Songyuan City in Jilin Province were secretly tried recently. Their lawyers were neither informed of the trial date, nor allowed to see them before the trial. Six of them were sentenced to heavy prison terms, from three years to ten years. The practitioners have appealed to a higher court.
Mr. Liu Yuliang, Ms. Li Yinghui, Mr. Sun Peng, and his wife Ms. Wang Yue were put on trial, shackled and handcuffed, on May 15, 2014.
The practitioners' families and lawyers were not officially informed of the trial date. One of the lawyers heard about the trial by chance and arrived at the court in time, but was refused entrance into the courtroom without any reason given. The lawyer was followed and monitored until he boarded the train to return home.
Mr. Liu Yuliang was sentenced to three years in prison. Ms. Li Yinghui was sentenced to four years. Mr. Sun Peng was sentenced to ten years and his wife Ms. Wang Yue was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Ms. Li was arrested on December 23, 2014. The other three practitioners were arrested on December 21, 2013.
Mr. Cui Hongwen was arrested on December 21, 2013, and was put on trial on May 22, 2014. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Mr. Li Chengwen, from the Jianbala Village in Songyuan, was sentenced to a three-year prison term. His family was not notified until he was taken to the Gongzhuling Prison in August 2014. He was arrested on December 23, 2013.
Ms. Wang Yuxia, 61, and her husband Mr. Zhang Haiji, who is not a Falun Gong practitioner, were secretly tried on the morning of July 29, 2014, by the Ningjiang District Court. Their lawyer and family were not notified. The couple was arrested on December 30, 2013.
Earlier reports:Songyuan Intermediate Court Denies Entry to Falun Gong Practitioner's Attorneys