Four Falun Gong Practitioners in Xinjiang Facing Trial

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Ma Chengying and her husband of one month Mr. Yang Wanjun were facing trial at Wusu City Court, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on March 6, 2014. The couple's relatives had hired an attorney who would plead not guilty on their behalf.

The attorney could not see their clients until the case was transferred to the court and the trial date was set. The couple said that the police officers slapped their face, beat them and forced them to sign documents when they were illegally arrested and held at the police department.

In addition, Mr. Zhang Chengjun and Mr. Zhang Huijun were also facing trial on the same day. Their relatives also hired attorneys to defend them. The attorneys went to the detention center to visit them on February 29, 2014, but were denied visitation. Instead, the attorneys were asked to go to the judiciary bureau for a check of their identification card. The officer of the Wusu Judiciary Bureau called the attorneys' law firm and said that their pleading not guilty was forbidden, which is an unlawful attempt to influence the trial.

Mr. Zhang Chengjun was arrested at his family's cotton fields by Wusu City 610 Office officers. Mr. Yang Wanjun and his wife of one month were arrested on October 9, 2013. Mr. Zhang Huijun was arrested on October 10, 2013.

The four practitioners are held at the Wusu City Detention Center. Their family members asked for their release but were refused and not allowed to see them. Their families received the document of approval of arrest on November 14, 2013, while Mr. Yang's family received that document on December 6, 2013.

The first notice of the impeding trial called for a court date of February 20, 2014, at 10:30 a.m.. The trial was postponed to March 6, 2014.

Wusu City Court: Ye'erken Duolang, director: [phone] (Office) Ma Yandong, deputy director and secretary: [phone] (Office) Zhang Zhiwei, deputy director: [phone] (Office) Wusu City Detention Center: [phone] (Office) Wang Yongyi, director of detention center: [phone] (Cell) Li Junfeng, instructor: [phone] (Cell)

Wusu City Domestic Security Division Ma Qiang, instructor, in charge of this case: [phone] (Cell)