Ms. Zuo Lizhi Secretly Sentenced to Five Years of Imprisonment by Yi County Court in Liaoning Province

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zuo Lizhi of Yi County in Liaoning Province was given a secret trial on October 10th, 2008 by the Yi County Court. She was then sentenced to three years of imprisonment. She appealed the sentence and was subsequently given a five-year sentence.

Ms. Lizhi was arrested on August 2nd, 2008 by the Yi county Domestic Security Team and Dayushubao Town police station. On October 10th, the Yi County Court held a secret trial for her. During the hearing Zuo Lizhi talked about how she gained physical and mental benefits from practising Falun Gong. The lawyer also defended her on the grounds that she was innocent. The judge and prosecutor were unable to refute this and the court session ended without a conclusion.

After the court session, Zuo Lizhi should have been released. However the Yi County Police Department kept her incarcerated at the detention centre. During this period of time, the Yi County Court disregarded the laws of the country. They are law enforcers who went against the law and secretly sentenced Zuo Lizhi to three years of imprisonment on the grounds of "making use of a cult to impede the enforcement of the law." Zuo Lizhi refused to accept the sentence and appealed to the Jinzhou City Intermediate Court.

On January 19th, 2009, some personnel from Jinzhou City Intermediate Court came to the Yi County Court. Without informing the family, they summoned Zuo Lizhi and asked a few simple questions. Then they told her that this was considered a trial conducted by the Intermediate Court. At that point in time, they also did not give the conclusion of the court.

After this incident, Zuo Lizhi's mother Kan Zhixin wrote appeal letters to the Jinzhou City Intermediate Court, Jinzhou City Procuratorate, Liaoning Province Higher Court and Liaoning Province Procuratorate. In her appeal letter she explained that Zuo Lizhi was innocent and did not commit any crime.

However, on February 14,th 2009, the family members of Zuo Lizhi received a notification letter from the Yi County Court dated February 12th, 2009. Zuo Lizhi had been sentenced to five years of imprisonment. Her imprisonment is from February 12th, 2009 to February 11th, 2014. The duration of her imprisonment while waiting trial: six months and 10 days. The date of release: August 1st, 2013. They were informed verbally that Zuo Lizhi would be taken away ten days later.

Zuo Lizhi is currently being incarcerated in County detention centre. She persists in her belief and strives to be a better person. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with no conscience insists on giving her a prison sentence. Besides that they gave an unreasonably heavy sentence.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/2/15/195540.html