Ms. Jin Xiuwen and Mr. Liu Xigong from Beijing Sentenced

Ms. Jin Xiuwen and Mr. Liu Xigong, both in their 60's, from Xicheng District, Beijing were sentenced to four and a half years on July 13th, 2010, by the Haidian District Court. When they appealed to the higher court, the initial decision was upheld.

Ms. Jin and Mr. Liu have been repeatedly persecuted because they refuse to give up their belief in Falun Gong. Ms. Jin has been dismissed by her employer, and Mr. Liu has had his pension suspended. They have been repeatedly harassed by officers from the police stations in Xicheng District and Shijingshan District, and had to leave their home to avoid further persecution.

Ms. Jin and Mr. Liu were arrested on December 19th, 2009, and their home was ransacked. They were held at the detention centre in Xicheng District, as well as the Beijing No.1 Detention Centre and the Haidian Detention Centre.

During their detention, Ms. Jin's blood pressure was very high, while Ms. Liu had to be taken to an emergency room due to heart problems and kidney stones. Officials did not allow any visits from their family, nor did they allow them to be released to receive medical treatment.

Officials from the Haidian Court put Ms. Jin and Mr. Liu on trial on June 2nd, 2010. The courtroom was small and some unidentified people took up most of the seats. During the trial, Judge You Tao interrupted the practitioners' lawyers numerous times and hastily adjourned the proceedings. He also ignored their application for bail while they awaited the trial.

Ms. Jin and Mr. Liu were sentenced to four and a half years in prison on July 13th. They appealed to the higher court, the Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court, which agreed with the original sentence without putting the case on re-trial and not allowing the practitioners to see a lawyer.

On November 15th, Ms. Jin Xiuwen was taken to the 4th Team in the Beijing Women's Prison, while Mr. Liu was taken to the 9th Team in Qianjin Prison, Qinghe Farm, Tianjin City. Both prisons refused visits from their family members and refused their request for bail to receive medical treatment.

Beijing Women's Prison: 86-10-60276833
Qianjin Prison, Qinghe Farm, Tianjin City: 86-10-83589496
Zhai Changxi, Judge at Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court: 86-10-59891632, 86-10-59891235, 86-10-68639038
You Tao, Judge at Haidian District Court: 86-10-62697361, 86-10-62697085, 86-10-62697687

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/11/25/232935.html