(Minghui.org) When Ms. Li Dongju’s lawyer contacted the intermediate court on April 13, 2023, to inquire about the status of her appeal against a 5.5-year sentence for practicing Falun Gong, he was shocked to learn that the judge had ruled to uphold her original verdict and closed the case.
The lawyer also found out that the court had appointed two lawyers to represent Ms. Li, even though he had already started to work on her case. With the excuse that only two lawyers could represent Ms. Li, the appeals court judge rejected her lawyer’s request to review her case document and didn’t inform him of the hearing of Ms. Li’s appeal case.
On April 14, a day after the lawyer’s inquiry, the authorities informed Ms. Li’s family that they would take her to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison soon.
Ms. Li, a Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, resident in her 60s, was arrested at home at 6 a.m. on July 12, 2022. Over 100 practitioners were arrested on the same day. She appeared in court on December 4, 2022, and was sentenced to 5.5 years.
In a similar case in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, the judge appointed two lawyers to represent Mr. Jiang Minghui and ordered them to enter a guilty plea for him, despite the fact that his wife had hired a lawyer for him. Ms. Jiang stood trial on April 7, 2023, and is now awaiting a verdict.
Related reports:
Targeted in a Mass Arrest, Two Heilongjiang Province Residents Sentenced for Their Faith
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