(Minghui.org) The Tianjin City Second Intermediate Court recently ruled to uphold the guilty verdict against a local man, without holding an open hearing as he requested.
Mr. Huang Liqiao, an engineer by training, was arrested on October 4, 2022 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. He was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan by the Hedong District Court in September 2023. He is likely still being held at the Hedong District Detention Center after his appeal was recently denied (exact date unknown).
This is not the first time that Mr. Huang has been targeted for his faith. He previously served three forced labor terms totaling seven years, between 1999 and 2010. His employer, a steel pipe company, terminated him while he was serving his third labor camp term. Mr. Huang was later arrested again in 2012 and sentenced to seven years in prison. His wife was not allowed to see him during the first five years. See the related reports for his past persecution.
As soon as Mr. Huang stepped out of his door on October 4, 2022, he was arrested by police who were staked out outside his home. They went inside and confiscated some of his personal belongings, including his ID. They then took him to the Hedong District Detention Center.
The Hedong District Procuratorate indicted Mr. Huang on December 14, 2022. His younger brother visited him on January 19, 2023, and he said the detention center took him for frequent physical examinations even though he was healthy. The guards presented his ID, which was confiscated by police, during every physical examination.
Mr. Huang’s lawyer and family went to the Hedong District Procuratorate and the Hedong District Police Department in February 2023 to submit complaints against the arresting officers. They also mailed a request to drop his case to the chief prosecutor, the police chief, and the secretary of the Tianjin City Political and Legal Affairs Committee (an extra-judicial agency overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong).
Mr. Huang’s lawyer went to the detention center on February 15, 2023 and was only allowed to see him in a virtual meeting. He told the lawyer that the Hedong District Court had attempted to hold a virtual hearing of his case days prior, on February 7. Mr. Huang yelled he was wronged and guard Li Hongjun beat him in retaliation. Mr. Huang insisted that Li be disciplined before his trial. The court thus canceled the virtual hearing.
Upon learning of what had happened, Mr. Huang’s lawyer advised him to write down his ordeal in a complaint to submit to the Hedong District Procuratorate and the prosecutor-in-residence at the detention center.
The lawyer went to the appeals office of the Hedong District Procuratorate the next day and reported the beatings of his client. The receptionist said they would wait to receive Mr. Huang’s complaint.
The lawyer returned to the detention center on February 17, 2023 and met with Mr. Huang virtually. He was there to collect Mr. Huang’s complaint against guard Li, but the detention center refused to pass the materials to him. He asked to see the detention center director, and the guards claimed the director was in a meeting. He ended up not being able to see the director.
Judge Wang Jun called the lawyer on the same day to say that a virtual hearing had been scheduled for February 28, 2023. The lawyer relayed Mr. Huang’s request to have an in-person hearing and reminded Wang that every defendant has the right to have in-person hearings.
Wang called for a pre-hearing meeting on February 27, 2023. The lawyer and the prosecutor attended in person, while Mr. Huang appeared virtually from the detention center. Before the meeting started, however, Mr. Huang started feeling dizzy so he did not attend the meeting.
The lawyer said that the purpose of the meeting turned out to be pressuring him to not talk about the legality of Falun Gong. Judge Wang agreed to cancel the virtual hearing scheduled for February 28, and re-scheduled an in-person session for May 31, 2023. The details of the in-person hearing remain to be investigated. Wang announced in September 2023 Mr. Huang was sentenced to six years in prison with a 10,000-yuan fine.
Mr. Huang filed an appeal with the Tianjin City Second Intermediate Court and requested an open hearing. The higher court, however, ignored his request and ruled recently to uphold the original verdict.
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