(Minghui.org) Mr. Li Xiaobo was arrested in April 2014 for distributing information about the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese communist regime. He has reportedly lost vision in his left eye while he was detained. The police and the Procuratorate sent his case to Longquanyi Court on November 4, 2014.
His son Mr. Li Zhe, a Canadian citizen, was also arrested and forced to return to Canada. He has retained attorneys for his father's defense and has appealed to the Canadian government for their help in rescuing his father.
Intentional Interference by the Court
According to legal procedure, when a lawsuit is filed with the court, the court is obligated to enter the information into the online docket system for the public to query freely. However, after three months, Mr. Li's case still has not been made available in the system.
Mr. Li's lawyers requested to read the case file multiple times, but their requests were evaded and denied by the judge. This suggested to the lawyers that the court's actions were intentional acts of sabotage rather than a clerical error. In fact, lawyers across China have reported encountering the same obstacles in cases against Falun Gong practitioners.
When the lawyers filed complaints against the judge to the Procuratorate on January 23, 2015, they acknowledged the lack of advance notice on the judge's part but refused to censure him for dereliction of duty and violating legal procedures.
Lawyer Harassed, Repeatedly Denied Access to Case File
One of Mr. Li Xiaobo's lawyers, Mr. Li Guisheng from Guizhou Province, went to Longquanyi Court on November 9, 2014 and requested to see the case file. He was told that only Judge Jin Xueqiang was authorized to grant access, but the judge was not available that day.
Attorney Li left his power of attorney paper and other representation documents at the Litigation Services Center for Judge Jin. He then went to meet his client at the detention center. A Falun Gong practitioner who accompanied him was arrested and released a day later. Attorney Li was taken to a police station, where he was questioned for an hour before being taken to the airport.
After twenty days without hearing from the judge, Attorney Li telephoned Judge Jin on December 1 and was told that the judge had received his papers and approved his request to read the case file. As Attorney Li arrived in Longquanyi, the judge instead announced he was going out of town and told Li to come again later.
As Attorney Li met his client at the detention center, guards monitored their meeting and confiscated notes his client tried to give to him.
In the following two months, two of Mr. Li Xiaobo's lawyers went to Longquanyi Court but were twice denied access to case files by Judge Jin, using spurious reasons.
Realty Company Manager Imprisoned For Eight Years
Mr. Li Xiaobo, 59 years old, was the former deputy secretary of Renshou County and former head of Pujiang County. He later became the general manager of a realty management company.
He started practicing Falun Gong in 1996, which led him to quit smoking. He soon regained his health. Mr. Li had previously served eight years in prison from 2005 to 2013 for practicing Falun Gong.
Partial List of Perpetrators:
Yang Dejun, director of Longquanyi Court, +86-28-84875399 (Office), +86-28-82275186 (Home), +86-13308239999 (Mobile)Jin Xueqiang, judge, +86-28-84875415, +86-28-84870327Cao Yu, director, Longquanyi Detention CenterMore perpetrators' information is available in the original Chinese article.
