Court Hearings Delayed to Prevent Beijing Defence Lawyers from Attending

Ms. Zhang Liyu, a practitioner from the Cangshan District in Fuzhou City, was arrested when she returned to her hometown and was seen talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang was taken to Yongtai County Detention Centre, and was to await a court hearing at the Yongtai County Court in Fuzhou City.

When officials from the court found out that Ms. Zhang's family had hired a lawyer from Beijing, Yan Xingnuan, chief judge of the Fuzhou Forestry Division in Yongtai County Court, and another court official forcibly told Ms. Zhang's family to replace the Beijing lawyer with a local lawyer on July 13th. When the family members refused to co-operate, officials from court went to the detention centre, on July 15th, to force Ms. Zhang to stop hiring the Beijing lawyer. The officials then decided to delay the hearing date.

The hearing was originally scheduled for July 20th at Yongtai County Court, but when Ms. Zhang's family arrived at the court on that day, they were told that it had been postponed.

A court hearing for Ye Qiaoming, another practitioner in Fuzhou City, was also postponed. It was scheduled for March 4th, and the notice was given only half an hour before the hearing was due to start. The two Beijing lawyers, working as the defence for Ye Qiaoming, had submitted requests to the court one day in advance, asking the prosecutor to bring witnesses for the alleged crimes against Ye Qiaoming to the court. Officials from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) not only applied pressure on the two lawyers through the Beijing Judicial Bureau, but also ordered officials from the Domestic Security Bureau to arrest Ye Qiaoming's 18-year-old son, who was then used as leverage to force Ye Qiaoming not to use the two Beijing lawyers. A court hearing for Ye Qiaoming was then held at Cangshan Court, on April 9th, where, without any defence lawyers, Ye Qiaoming was sentenced.

Persons responsible for the persecution:

Yan Xingnuan, chief judge of the Fuzhou Forestry Division in Yongtai County Court: 86-591-24858270, 86-13809532019
Wu Baowu, head of Fujian Province 610 Office: 86-591-87876007 (Office), 86-591-87828687 (Home), 86-13067107676
Hou Siping, Official from the Yongtai County Political and Law Bureau: 86-591-24858828
Tan Jianxi, Official from the Yongtai County Political and Law Bureau: 86-591-24832436

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/7/24/227456.html