Court Secretly Sentences Nurse to Eight Years; Distraught Family Members Have Appealed

Name: Song Yingjie
Gender: Female
Age: 43
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Nurse
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 28th, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Harbin Second Detention Centre
Detention City: Harbin
Detention Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Electric shocks, forced labour, fired from workplace, home ransacked, detention

In January, family members of Song Yingjie learned that she had been arrested by the police nine months earlier, and last September, a court secretly sentenced her to eight years of imprisonment. Her family members became angry and hired a lawyer to appeal the case. In the meantime, Ms. Song went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution.

Ms. Song is 43 and had worked as a nurse in the intensive care unit of the Third Hospital, which is affiliated with the Harbin Medical University. On April 28th, 2012, some hospital staff deceived Ms. Song into going to the office, where police officer Liu Wei and others from the Nangang District Liaoyang Police Station were waiting to arrest her. These officers also ransacked her home and took two computers, printers and several mobile phones. She was detained at the Harbin Second Detention Centre. Family members spoke several times to officer Hao, who was in charge of the case. They were told that the case had been transferred to the Nangang Procuratorate on May 11th, 2012. After that they could not find out any news about Ms. Song.

On January 22nd, 2013, Ms. Song's parents went to the Harbin Second Detention Centre to see their daughter because they did not receive a receipt for the parcel they had sent her. Finally, they were told by Centre Director Liu Zhiru that the Harbin Nangang Court had secretly held a hearing in September 2012 and had sentenced Song to eight years in jail.

Ms. Song's parents were very angry to hear what Liu told them. They had not received any notice about the hearing. They did not know what she had been charged with. They decided to hire a lawyer.

Ms. Song had a brain tumour for several years before she was cured by practising Falun Gong. She saw many patients suffering in the intensive care unit and recommended they also practise Falun Gong. Her boss had warned her not to spread or practise Falun Gong.

Ms. Song had been sent to a forced labour camp twice. She was at the Heilongjiang Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in November 2003. When she refused to slander Falun Gong, police officer Yao Fuchang grabbed her hair and put an electric baton to her face. After two hours, her face was distorted, and blood was all over her face. She could not open her mouth for days. Still, Yao was yelling at her, saying, “I disfigured your face. You can file a suit against me after you get out.”

Perpetrators:

Harbin Nangang District Liaoyang Police Station, Liu Wei: 15114590305 (M)
Harbin Nangang District Police Department, Officer Hao;

The Third Hospital, affiliated with Harbin Medical University: Director Xu Xiuyu, Deputy Director Wang Guonian, Secretary Feng Jun, Deputy Secretary Zhao Changhong, Director of the Department of anesthesia: 13351880085 (M);

Harbin First Detention Centre, Director Liu Zhiru;

Heilongjiang Qianjin Forced Labour Camp (includes Wanjia Forced Labour Camp) police officer, Yao Fuchang