(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old man in Linzhou City was secretly sentenced to three years in prison for his faith. When the local appeals court ordered a retrial, the court again held a secret hearing without informing Mr. Feng Youfu's family or lawyers. It handed out the same sentence against Mr. Feng, who is appealing to the same appeals court a second time.
Mr. Feng was arrested on April 6, 2016, for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. He was visiting a relative when a village official deceived him into returning to his own home. As soon as he stepped in the door, more than a dozen officials and policemen broke in to ransack his home.
Mr. Feng's family learned from insiders on October 19, 2016, that he was ordered to stand trial without their knowledge one month prior. News came in late December 2016 that he had been sentenced to three years.
Anyang Intermediate Court ruled in 2017 to return the case for a retrial, citing insufficient evidence.
Linzhou Court informed Mr. Feng's family that his court date was set for June 6, 2017. They hired two lawyers to defend his innocence. The court postponed the hearing upon learning of the family's hiring of lawyers.
Mr. Feng's family hasn't been allowed to visit him or talk to him on the phone even once since his arrest. They called the court on June 23, 2018, and learned that he was re-sentenced to three years in prison without their knowledge. His appeal case now rests with Anyang Intermediate Court again.
Zhao Xiaoming of Linzhou Court was the presiding judge in both trials. His phone numbers are +86-372-6162068 and +86-13700713182.
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