(Minghui.org) The judge overseeing the trial of a local woman twice denied her lawyers’ requests to follow the law in prosecuting their client. One of the lawyers quit, while the other filed a complaint against the judge in protest.
Ms. Sun Min, an Anshan City resident, was arrested on June 28, 2016 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
No Jurisdiction
When she first appeared in court on February 17, 2017, her lawyer at the time argued that the case should be heard in a different jurisdiction based on the location of her arrest. Judge Wang Lihan of Lishan District Court ignored the lawyer and tried to proceed with the hearing. The lawyer immediately terminated his legal representation of Ms. Sun in protest and left the courtroom.
Wang scheduled a new court date for March 9, but Ms. Sun refused to stand in court because of the judge's denial of her former lawyer’s request to move the case to a different jurisdiction.
Wang then postponed the trial to April 6. He asked Ms. Sun’s newly hired lawyer to meet with him in the courthouse early that morning and demanded the lawyer persuade his client to agree to appear in court later that day. Otherwise, he’d hold the hearing in the detention center where Ms. Sun has been held since her arrest.
The lawyer declined because Wang did not issue a three-day advance notice of the intended hearing as required by law. Wang, however, rushed in with his prosecutor and clerks while the lawyer was meeting with Ms. Sun in the detention center.
In order to halt the hearing, Ms. Sun dismissed her new lawyer moments later. The lawyer then proceeded to file a complaint against Wang.
Details of the New Hearing
Ms. Sun’s new lawyer went to the detention center as soon as he finished meeting with Judge Wang on the morning of April 6.
While he was on his way there, the court staff separately requested Ms. Sun to appear in court without representation. She refused to do so.
Meanwhile, Ms. Sun's father and relatives asked to sit in at the hearing. They were chased away. One relative heard from the guards that they were under special instructions from Wang to block the relatives from entering.
The lawyer finally got to the detention center around 11 a.m. Judge Wang, the prosecutor and court staff rushed in right after the lawyer and Ms. Sun had just exchanged a few words.
Seeing this situation, Ms. Sun stood up to leave but was held back by the guards. The lawyer immediately asked Ms. Sun if she received the notice of hearing from the court three days prior to the hearing. She replied no.
Wang shouted for them not to talk about the issue. The prosecutor proceeded to try asking Ms. Sun questions, but she refused to answer. Wang then told the lawyer to ask instead, and he repeated his earlier question about the notice.
Ms. Sun replied with the same answer–no. The lawyer told Wang that he was violating legal procedure. Another violation was not allowing the presence of Ms. Sun's family and other people at the hearing.
At this moment, Ms. Sun said that she wanted to terminate the lawyer-client relationship with him. The lawyer accepted, took his belongings, and left the room.
This did not stop the hearing, as Wang continued for 20 minutes. Before leaving, Wang told Ms. Sun she could ask the lawyer to submit his defense statement.
After the lawyer left the room, he was heard saying: “I've been a judge for 20 years and a lawyer for 10 years. Having attended over thousands of trials, I've never seen a trial like this! It was an eye-opener! There is no limit! This trial is illegal and cannot be acknowledged!”
He then filed a complaint against Judge Wang to Lishan District Procuratorate and Lishan District Court.
Arrest and Torture in Detention
Ms. Sun was arrested at her rental home on June 28, 2016 and taken to the police station. Officers ransacked her home and confiscated 20,000 yuan in cash on the spot.
That night, the police took her back to her home to take photos and ransacked it again. They took away another 40,000 yuan in cash. These two sums of money were not declared in the list of confiscated items. When her father went to inquire after it, the police said they were not aware of any money being taken.
While she was held at the detention center, she was force-fed food mixed with urine and feces. The guards also instigated inmates to beat her. The torture caused her weight to drop to 80 pounds.
Parties responsible for the persecution of Ms. Sun:Wang Yihan, judge in charge of the case: +86-412-2696233, +86-15842003991Wei Xiaoxuan, chief, Lingshan Police Station, Lishan District, Anshan City: +86-15698906078, +86-15941297926Cui Qiang, police, Lingshan Police Station, Lishan District, Anshan City: +86-15541290205
(More participants and contact information are available in the original Chinese article.)
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