(Minghui.org) Yan Longbing, 40, is head of the Huining County Criminal Court. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution of Falun Gong, he has actively abused the law by sentencing several practitioners to prison terms and extorting their relatives of their property and money. This has destroyed many practitioner's families and put them under great stress and mental pressure. The following are a few of Yan Longbing's evil acts:
1. Obstructing Lawyer's Judicial Activities
Practicing Falun Gong is exercising one's freedom of belief, which is protected by Chinese law. Clarifying the facts about Falun Gong is exercising one's freedom of speech, which also is protected by law. Because the CCP is violating the law it's afraid that lawyers will expose the depth of the persecution and their many evil acts.
The CCP routinely intimidates practitioners' families with threats, to discourage then from hiring lawyers, and prevents lawyers from getting information about their clients. They also repeatedly alter the trial times. When Yan Longbing handles cases, he demands that practitioners' relatives pay him with their belongings and money and creates many difficulties for their lawyers. The lawyers have to ask for the files many times before the request is granted, and they are not allowed to make copies of the documents.
Huining County Court originally scheduled a hearing for four practitioners—He Yuhu, Jin Yinwu, Feng Caihong, and Han Xiufang—at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Later, due to the lawyer's intervention, the court postponed the hearing date. Officials with the Huining County Legal and Political Affairs Committee and 610 Office were in a panic. They made false accusations against the lawyer to the Beijing Bureau of Justice. Kang Yingxiang, head of the Huining County 610 Office, even threatened the practitioner's relatives, saying that if they hired a lawyer, the court would give their loved ones a longer prison term. In the meantime, Kang Yingxiang ordered another lawyer to represent the family. He deceived Mr. He Yuhu's wife and had her sign a contract with the new lawyer. When this lawyer went to the detention center with the deceived wife to visit Mr. He Yuhu, the lawyer threatened her to not to hire any lawyers from Beijing, and told Mr. He to first lie and say that he was guilty. This lawyer then claimed that he would plead not guilty for Mr. He. When his trick was exposed, he said Kang Yingxiang forced him to do what he did.
When Mr. He's lawyer went to Huining County Court to process the paperwork on February 19, just two days prior to Mr. He's trial date, Yan Longbing rejected the lawyer's request. He did not allow the lawyer to make copies of any of the files. The lawyer had to make the request many times before he was able to even see the files. Yan Longbing threatened Mr. He's wife, Ms. Wang, telling her not to hire the lawyer. Ms. Wang refused to go along with his deceit.
After reading the files, the lawyer went to visit Mr. He in the detention center. Pressured by the 610 Office and the Legal and Political Affairs Committee, the head of the detention center did not allow the lawyer to meet with his client, Mr. He. After great effort, the lawyer was finally able to meet with him. On February 20, the court informed the lawyer that the court date had been delayed and the time had yet to be determined.
On February 28, 2012, the Court put the four practitioners on trial. During the trial, the lawyer proved the practitioners' innocence from a legal standpoint and showed that all the practitioners' actions were protected by law. Facing the lawyer's upright defense, Yan Longbing was speechless. The trial was quickly ended but the practitioners were not released.
2. Families and the Public Not Allowed to Attend the Trial
In order to maintain control over the proceedings, the court limited the attendees, and only two from each family were allowed to attend the trial. Attendance cards were handled by the regime's neighborhood and community organizations. The trials of practitioners are usually handled secretly in order to keep people from attending.
When the hearing was held on February 28, the vicinity within 100 meters of the courthouse was placed under martial law and surrounded by plainclothes officers and all kinds of police vehicles. There were police at every intersection. All the drivers coming into the city, and everyone in nearby hotels, had to have their identifications checked.
Prior to the hearing, the practitioners in Huining County sent out invitations inviting people to attend.
The hearing officially started at 9:00 a.m. The president, Yan Longbing, asked a series of questions. The lawyer pled innocent on behalf of the practitioners. Due to the lawyer's strong defense, the judge floundered throughout the trial, and the prosecutors were speechless. The trial was hurriedly ended.
3. Use of Fabricated Evidence and Misuse of the Law Established in the Course of Arbitration
During his defense, the lawyer established the fact that the practitioners broke no laws by practicing Falun Gong. Instead, the lawyer showed that police and 610 Office personnel should be held accountable for arresting and detaining them. Yan Longbing, the 610 Office, and the Domestic Security Division were shown to have abused the law and fabricated evidence.
To frame practitioners, police from Huining County and the Domestic Security Division first arrest practitioners and then fabricate evidence to place them on trial. If this “evidence” is not sufficient and the case is returned by the Procuratorate, they fabricate more “evidence.” One example of such “evidence” is using pieces of torn and destroyed flyers. The lawyer stated, “Even the authenticity of 'evidence' that claims my client was distributing materials is questionable.”
Yan Longbing did not respond to any of the lawyer's defense statements. However, even if the practitioners were all found innocent, they still would not be released. Based on falsified evidence, Yan Longbing misuses the law in rendering a verdict in the course of arbitration. On November 23, 2012, the court tried these four practitioners again. This time they did not notify any of their families members or the lawyer. The practitioners were sentenced to three years of imprisonment.
The four practitioners and their families decided to appeal to the intermediate court. When the families recently went to Baiyin City Intermediate Court to get more information, they were told that their appeal letters had not been submitted to the intermediate court. Because legal processes were not followed and no investigation was conducted, it is very difficult for the families to get any information.
