(Clearwisdom.net)

Recently, the Chengdu City Intermediate Court sentenced eleven Falun Dafa practitioners to jail, upholding the decision of a lower court. Throughout the case, the court proceeded unjustly.

For instance, the court sent out a written notification to the fifteen attorneys of the eleven practitioners, including Ms. Zhong Fangqiong, ordering them to submit their defense briefs and affidavits before February 9. The attorneys were trying to overturn their clients' convictions in a lower court. In other words, the court did not plan to have a public trial and intended to sentence the defendants secretly.

Last November, practitioner Mr. Yan Xiaoping's two attorneys pointed out that "the facts are unclear and the evidence is insufficient" and there had been other legal deficiencies in the first trial, and so the attorney requested a public trial. The Chengdu City Intermediate Court staff repeatedly dodged the requests and acted callously. Later, the Intermediate Court issued a judgment to affirm the findings of the lower court. Currently, Mr. Yan is imprisoned in the notorious Deyang Jail.

Prior, the Chengdu City Intermediate Court had requested that the attorneys submit their defense briefs and affidavits before January 19, but the court did not allow the attorneys to copy any records they needed to prepare the documents. All fifteen attorneys protested, unanimously expressing that the second trial must be public because the first trial involved "facts that are unclear and the evidence is insufficient." In addition, many legal procedures and the rules of evidence had been violated.

Most important, confessions had been extracted by torture: At least eight practitioners testified that they been tortured until they signed a confession. For example, some were deprived of sleep for fifteen to sixteen days, exposed to harsh, bright lights and were brutally beaten. Ms. Zhou Huimin had been tortured to near death, and Ms. Zhong Fangqiong was once tortured until she was disfigured. The actions of the law enforcement units were criminal, and the testimony produced by their methods should have been inadmissible in court. In view of the illegal procedures present in the first trial, the second trial had to be open to the public to restrain further abuse by the court and law enforcement agencies.

The attorneys wrote letters to the Intermediate Court, including to the chief judge and the other judges many times, requesting that the proceedings be open to the public and that they be allowed to make copies of the trial records and case materials.

Through their attorneys, the imprisoned practitioners also submitted requests for copies of public documents.

Simultaneously, their family members also contacted the court and the National People's Congress to request that the second trial be open to the public. They noted that the first trial was called a "public trial," but the authorities did not even allow family members to observe. Only with public scrutiny could there be the possibility of justice. They also called upon the court makes a just decision--to set their family members free with a verdict of not guilty.

From the beginning of this case, the Chengdu City Intermediate Court had repeatedly created obstacles for the attorneys. Except for Mr. Yan Xiaoping, the Falun Dafa practitioners who were sentenced by Chengdu City Intermediate Court have appealed their convictions. The Chengdu City Intermediate Court personnel involved must bear responsibility for their involvement in persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners.

The personnel involved in the first and second court trials include:

First Criminal Court:

Chief judge: Lin Qiao, 86-28-82915607
Assistants to the chief judge: Qiu Jing, 86-28-82915030 and Huang Wen, 86-28-82915243
Court secretaries: Liu Huaiyuan and Zhang Yuanze, 86-28-82915216

Chengdu City Intermediate Court:
Chief: Niu Min
Deputy Chief: Wang Ping, Liu Nan, Hu Jianping, Zhong Erpu, and Xie Shanghua
Inspector: Yang Wenjun
Vice-inspectors: Zhang Baoshan and Liang Qiong
Judicial commission specialty committee members: Xie Yang, and Yu Mingjian
Judicial commission: Wu Hongyan, and Xie Yang
Deputy judge: Li Xiaoying