(Minghui.org) Taiyuan Intermediate Court upheld Ms. Li Jinlan's sentence of four-and-a-half years without a hearing. The ruling was handed down on January 13, 2016, and Ms. Li was transferred to the Shanxi Woman Prison in mid February.
Ms. Li’s family had appealed the sentence with the intermediate court. According to Yang Tianshan with the Procuratorate, a second trial was not held because the original sentence had been handed down by higher authorities, with whom the Intermediate Court could not disagree.
Ms. Li was arrested illegally on May 27, 2015, for attending the trial of other Falun Gong practitioners, including Mr. Liu Zengfang, who is over 70 and a professor of history and literature, and Wang Shuangchun, which was held on May 18, 2015, in Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province.
The Taiyuan Police Department and Judicial Bureau dispatched officers to ransack her home. They confiscated a computer, a printer, a DVD burner, and Falun Gong informational materials.
Ms. Li was tried in the Wanbailin District Court on October 13, 2015, in the absence of her lawyer from Beijing. The prosecuting attorney presented what he called “incriminating evidence,” such as 400 DVDs, over 100 brochures, and over 60 Falun Gong books confiscated from Ms. Li's house. He asked the judge to give her a heavy sentence. The trial lasted only 30 minutes.
The verdict--a four-and-a-half year prison term and a 10,000-yuan fine--was announced on December 2, 2015.
Zhang Jiangang (张建刚), director, Wanbailin Police StationBao Hongbin (包宏斌), chief, Wanbailin District Domestic Security DivisionLi Zhiqiang (李志强), presiding judge, Wanbailin District Court, +86-351-2829541Lu Gaofei (路高飞), prosecutor, +86-351-6582523