(Minghui.org) A 49-year-old housewife from Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province was arrested while doing grocery shopping last September and sentenced to 4 years three months later. Her only “crime” was practicing Falun Gong, a self-cultivation system being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.
Ms. Liu Yanmei filed an appeal with Daqing City Intermediate Court on January 5 to have her unjust sentence overturned. The higher court, however, issued its decision to uphold the original verdict five days later, without holding a hearing or consulting her defense lawyers.
According to Ms. Liu's lawyers, the higher court's action constituted a severe violation of legal procedure. When presented with litigants' appeal against verdicts issued in the trial of first instance, by law the higher court should either hold a public hearing or consult defense attorneys if no hearing is held.
When the lawyers went to Daqing City Procuratorate to file a complaint against the higher court, however, the staff there refused to accept their complaint and called in police to threaten them.
Arrested while Shopping
After she started to practice Falun Gong in 1996, Ms. Liu became healthy and cheerful. Her family also benefited. Her husband is an outstanding high school physics teacher. Their daughter is currently preparing for graduate school. Ms Liu has been taking care of her 90-year-old mother-in-law for several years.
However, life for this happy family changed on September 20, 2014, when Ms. Liu was arrested while doing grocery shopping, because someone reported to the police that she was a Falun Gong practitioner. The police ransacked her home one hour later, taking away a Falun Gong book as evidence against her.
The arrest of Ms. Liu was soon approved. She was tried on December 18 at the Longfeng District Court in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province. Without notifying Ms. Liu's family about the trial, the court sentenced her to 4 years in prison.
Intermediate Court Upholds Verdict Despite Lawyers' Objection
Ms. Liu appealed to the Daqing Intermediate Court on Jan. 5. Her family hired two human rights lawyers to defend her at the second trial.
When the attorneys visited the Daqing Intermediate Court on Jan. 12, Judge Zhao Peng claimed that the court already made a decision on the case through the collegial panel, and there was no need for any defense attorney involvement.
The attorneys insisted on remaining involved because the decision had not been announced to the public yet. Upon their insistence, Judge Zhao reluctantly allowed them to review the case and accepted their application to have a public hearing. He also asked to see their defense opinion beforehand, but the lawyers objected as they reserved their defense arguments for the hearing.
On Jan. 17, the attorneys were notified of the court's decision. The court decided to uphold the previous verdict, without a hearing or receiving any defense opinion.
The attorneys refused to accept the decision. They visited the court again on Jan. 28, complaining that the adjudication was against legal procedure because the court never notified the attorneys that there would not be a hearing, and the decision was made without receiving the defense opinion. Judge Zhao, however, told them that the higher court's decision was final.
The lawyers complained to the local procuratorate that afternoon, but they were met with verbal abuse by the staff and the subsequent police threats.
Related article:http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2014/12/27/买菜时被绑架-刘艳梅仍被非法关押-302063.html
