Deputy Secretary of Politics and Law Committee in Xichang Tells Lawyer: We Don't Care About the Law

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Gao Deyu from Xichang City in Sichuan Province was arrested in September. Her family hired a lawyer for her. The lawyer lawfully requested to meet with Ms. Gao, but the judiciary tried to prevent the visit. Liu, the Deputy Secretary of the Politics and Law Committee in Xichang, even told the lawyer: "Don't even mention the law, we don't care about the law." This confession shows exactly how Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have never followed the law while persecuting Falun Gong.

During the October 1st national holiday season of 2009, practitioners Ms. Gao Deyu, Ms. He Zhengqiong, Ms. He Xianzhen, and Ms. Cheng Donglan were arrested, one after another. The Xichang City Procuratorate issued arrest warrants for Ms. Gao, Ms. He Zhengqiong and Ms. He Xianzhen. In November 2009, Ms. Gao's family hired a lawyer to represent her.

The lawyer went to the law department of the Police Department to request a meeting with his client, a right accorded by the law. However, the police officer and the law department kept shifting responsibility back and forth. In the end, the request was forwarded to Wang Yaohui, the deputy secretary in charge. Wang refused the visitation request with the excuse that Falun Gong cases are regarded as being highly politically sensitive cases. The lawyer said that according to the Lawyers Law and the legal Code of Criminal Procedure, he should be permitted to see his client during the investigation period. But Wang refused to give any response. The lawyer then reported the situation to the City Politics and Law Committee. However, Liu, the Deputy Secretary of the Politics and Law Committee, dared to say, "Don't even mention the law, we don't care about the law."

Afterwards, the lawyer filed a complaint with the Xichang City Procuratorate and with the Police Department. In the complaint, the lawyer stated that the policemen investigating the case violated the law, refused the lawyer's request to visit the client and thus obstructed the lawyer working on the case.

Ms. Gao's family went to visit the officer in the National Security Team in the police department. The officer claimed that the case was reported to the Procuratorate. The family went to the Procuratorate but the prosecutor informed them that they hadn't received the case. The two departments kept shifting responsibility back and forth.

Why did the police department prevent the lawyer from visiting the client? Were they trying to secretly sentence Ms. Gao Deyu? What is Ms. Gao's condition now? Her family is very worried about her. By simply noting the obstruction that the lawyer experienced when requesting to meet with the client, one can understand the extent of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong over the past ten years. Namely, CCP officers and officials totally disregard the law, are afraid of being publicly exposed and are even afraid of facing the laws that the CCP itself created.

At present Ms. Gao Deyu and Ms. He Zhengqong are detained in the Liangshang Zhou Detention Centre. Ms. He Xianzhen is detained in the Xichang Detention Centre. Ms. Cheng Donglan is secretly detained in the Dechang County Detention Centre which is dozens of kilometres away from Xichang City.

Ms. Cheng Donglan's situation is also very worrying. She and her husband have both been sentenced to forced labour. Her husband, Mr. Fang Zhengping, was arrested by Jiang Xing from the National Security Team in Suijiang County, Yunnan Province and later sentenced to seven years and detained in the Yunnan Province No. 1 Prison. His family members have still not received any word about him.

We call upon everyone to pay attention to the persecution of Falun Gong in Xichang City, send out their voices of justice and stop the persecution of Falun Gong. To do so is to stand up for justice in our own areas as well.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/12/6/213926.html