Falun Gong Practitioners Still Waiting on Appeals Process

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Luo Baixiu and Ms. Wen Chunfu were arrested on September 4, 2015, while distributing Falun Gong flyers in the Hongtudi area of the Tangdian Second District.

The two women tried by the Xundian County Court on January 7, 2016 and March 16, 2016, respectively.

Lawyers Liang Xiaojun and Guo Haiyue defended Ms. Wen and Ms. Luo, stating that their clients were innocent. However, the Xundian Court refused to follow the law. On April 11, the court delivered four-year and a three-and-a-half year sentences against Ms. Wen and Ms. Luo, respectively, based on an upper authority’s order.

Ms. Luo received the court decision, a three-and-a-half year sentence on May 10, 2016. Three days later, Ms. Luo appealed to the Kunming City Intermediate Court. She argued that the sentence was illegal, and that she had done nothing wrong.

After receiving Ms. Luo’s appeal, a judge in Kunming Intermediate Court informed her lawyer that the court would schedule a hearing in two weeks. The judge also told the lawyer to submit a defense as soon as possible. The lawyer asked, “Will the court review our arguments?”

The judge replied, “We will report your points to the upper authorities, and they will make a final decision.”

During a meeting with her lawyer, Ms. Luo said that after her first trial, she refused to do forced labor as a protest. The detention center guards locked her up in a solitary confinement cell for 12 days as punishment. She then staged a hunger strike and was tortured with forced-feeding.

Ms. Luo told her lawyer about another incident that happened last September when she arrived at the Kunming Detention Center. One day she had to wash her prison uniform, so she put on her own clothes. A guard yelled at her and ordered some criminal inmates to strip off all her clothes, and to pour cold water over her. When she cried out, the guard shoved a pair of dirty socks into her mouth.

Dousing with cold water

Responsible Parties Responsible:Kunming Intermediate Court, [phone]Luo Chaofeng (罗朝峰), court president: [phone]Zhou Chuanbiao (周传彪),vice president: [phone]Yuan Xuehong (袁学红), vice President: [phone]An Jing (安静), vice president: [phone]Dong Lin (董林), vice president: [phone]Xundian Procuratorate: [phone]Li Yong (李勇), chief prosecutorXundian Court: Cao Jun (曹军), court president