Wang Bo's grandmother, Han Lingrong, is 87 years old. She depends on her family to assist with her daily life needs. However, three 610 Office1 agents from the Yuhua District Police Department in Shijiazhuang City and from the Yudong Police Station came to her residence on June 21st, 2007, at around 5:00 p.m. They presented a search warrant and stated that someone suspected that Ms. Han had been involved in handing out Falun Gong leaflets and reported her to the police.
This claim was so absurd that anyone thinking rationally will find it preposterous. Ms. Han depends on her daughter and son-in-law to take care of her daily life needs. How could she hand out Falun Gong leaflets?
The three policemen didn't find any evidence while searching the home, so they forcibly took Ms. Han's son-in-law (Wang Bo's uncle) to the Yudong Police Station for interrogation. Although they used the ruse that someone had reported Wang Bo's grandmother, the focus of their interrogation centred on who had hired the lawyer for Wang Bo, why so many Falun Gong practitioners were present at the court hearing, and who has ties to the Wang Bo family. Wang Bo's uncle didn't answer their questions and asked the police a question instead, "Is it illegal to hire lawyers?" The police were silent but told him that it was an order from above to ask him these questions. They hoped Wang Bo's uncle would cooperate with them so they could report to their supervisors and get their task done.
Wang Bo's grandmother felt extremely unwell as a result of the police search. She was afraid and in shock. She strongly protested her son-in-law's arrest. The police released Wang Bo's uncle that evening but told Wang's family that it was not over yet, and they would find Wang Bo's aunt later to interrogate her and make written records.
Someone ordered Wang Bo's uncle to go to the Yuhua District Police Department again on the morning of June 22nd . He was interrogated with the same questions. They permitted him to return home at noon.
At the first court hearing, one of the attendees was a classmate of Wang Bo's uncle as well as a friend of Wang Bo's family. He had known Wang Bo since she was a baby. Hearing that Wang Bo's whole family would be sentenced, he applied for a spectator's pass and attended the court trial. Police officials from the Hedong station took him for interrogation on the evening of June 21st and held him in the police station for the night. He was not released until late morning the following day. The local authorities prepared themselves during the trial, as if they would be facing a great number of armed enemies. More than 600 policemen were dispatched to guard the court and to prevent the general public from approaching the proximity of the court. Almost two months had passed since the first court hearing. The police still felt insecure and arrested attendees at will.
On June 21st, 2007, at around 3:00 p.m., more than ten officers from the Yuhua District Police Department went to Ms. Liang Yening's workplace and confiscated a desktop computer she was using. They then went to Liang's residence to ransack her home. Four of them remained, attempting to arrest Ms. Liang, but failed to find her. Another group from the Yuhua Police Station went to Ms. Hua Fengxiang's home that same day and arrested her around seven o'clock in the evening. We have information that Ms. Hua was just released. They are searching for Ms. Qiu Liying as well.
The court posted the announcement for the upcoming second trial date for Wang Bo long before the trial date. Those who are concerned with Wang's family would certainly apply for a spectator's pass to attend the proceedings. The local authorities seized all those who planned to attend the hearing before the court trial. The so-called "public trial" was just a trap, a shameless scheme, meant to arrest all those who are concerned about the family. The trial was held on April 27th, 2007. Wang Bo and her mother were sent to the Hebei Province Women's Prison on May 15. Wang Bo's father was sent to the Jidong Prison on June 19th.
The following is Wang Bo's grandmother, Ms. Han's appeal letter:
To the Supreme Court of the People's Republic of China:
Wang Bo, a 27-year-old female graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music, lived in the Tangu residential subdivision in Shijiazhuang City. She started to practise Falun Gong after she witnessed her parents' tremendous physical and spiritual improvement since they became cultivators of Falun Gong. The family had enjoyed good health and family harmony. Wang Bo was an outstanding student. Her parents were very pleased with her.
However, since the Chinese Communist Party started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, the family has suffered unimaginable ordeals for persevering in their belief in Falun Gong. All of them were sentenced to forced labour for three years. In the past eight years they only had a half-year reunion. For most of the eight years they led fugitive lives in worry, fear and anxiety. Now the three of them have been sentenced to prison at the same time. Wang Bo was sentenced to five years, and her parents to four years. Wang Bo and her mother Liu Shuqin were sent to the Hebei Women's Prison on May 15th, 2007. Her father Wang Xinzhong remained at the Zhaoxian Detention Centre in Shijiazhuang City. As early as in February 2007 he was diagnosed with high blood pressure at 200/120 mmHg, together with arteriosclerosis of the heart. According to Department of Justice regulations and rules, Wang Xinzhong should be released on medical parole, however, because he is a Falun Gong practitioner, the detention authorities refused his family's repeated requests to release him. His life is in grave danger.
Wang Bo was sentenced to forced labour for appealing for justice for Falun Gong when she was only 19 years old. When she was in college, police acted as "personal cangues"2 and attended classes with her to monitor her closely. The majority of her time was spent in a prison and labour camp. Due to tremendous pressure, she attempted to commit suicide several times. [Note: Falun Dafa strictly forbids harming any life including one's own.] In April 2002, CCTV's "Focal Point" interviewed the imprisoned Wang Bo. When the interview aired it was grossly distorted, completely different from their original statements. TV reporter Li Yuqiang phoned Wang Bo and expressed an apology and said, "There is nothing I can do. I altered the interview to pass censorship."
When Wang Bo gained freedom in July 2005, she made a film to reveal the brutality and lies behind the CCTV's falsified interview from three years earlier, thus police were ordered to arrest her and searched for her everywhere. On July 27th, 2006, Wang Bo and her parents were arrested again. On February 1st, 2007, Chang'an District Court agents in Shijiazhuang City sentenced them to four to five years in prison.
Wang Bo and her parents disagreed with the judgement. They believed that freedom of belief was protected by the constitution and that they could thus hold onto their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. It is a miscarriage of justice to apply criminal law article 300 to Falun Gong practitioners. It is unjust to sentence Falun Gong practitioners for their beliefs.
During the second court trial, Wang Bo's relatives and friends invited six lawyers to defend Wang Bo's family. The six lawyers, from four Beijing law offices, did a great job defending Wang Bo's family, trying to convince the judge and the audience that the accused were innocent. They also pointed out that 13 legal procedures and laws had been violated during the arrest and subsequent imprisonment. They submitted a joint defence motion entitled "Constitutional supremacy and innocent belief," and defended on behalf of Falun Gong, from the comprehensive perspectives of constitution, legislature, judiciary procedures and legal facts. Their courageous acts and outstanding statements have drawn worldwide attention.
However, the Shijiazhuang Intermediate Court disregarded the lawyers' well-grounded and rational defence statements, disregarded the rules of law, and made a secret court decision on May 9th, 2007 to "uphold the original judgement" without notifying the lawyers. The court deliberately concealed facts when Wang Bo's relatives enquired about the case.
After the court-issued judgement for the second trial, Wang Bo's relatives appealed to the Supreme Court of Hebei Province. The judge who met with them suggested that they first appeal to the Shijiazhuang Intermediate Court. On June 14th, 2007 Wang Bo's relatives appealed to the intermediate court and were told they would receive a reply within ten days. According to a judge who knew the inside information, holding a second trial was a decision made by officials from above and "upholding the original judgement" was also an order from above. A local court cannot make any independent, final judgement for any case that involves Falun Gong.
It was under such circumstances that I decided to appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the People's Republic of China. According to the rules set in Criminal Procedure Law, appeals shall not be confined to the levels of the court.
Just as the defence lawyers stated, there is no legal basis whatsoever in China's current legal system for banning and suppressing Falun Gong as an evil religion, a belief system that is based on the belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. The series of punitive actions perpetrated on Falun Gong practitioners have no constitutional or legal basis, and should be stopped. In the case of Wang Bo's family, sentencing them to forced labour in July 1999 was wrong to begin with. Wang Bo and her parents have been imprisoned for almost one year. A once happy family was literally broken apart. It was said that Wang Bo and her mother held hunger strikes in prison to protest the unjust judgement. Their lives are in danger. Wang Bo's father has a broken heart and experienced severely deteriorated health in the past eight years, but no one dares to grant him medical parole because he is a Falun Gong practitioner. Three people's lives are at stake in this wrongful judgement!
The three innocent defendants have spent over eight years in incarceration. They have been waiting for justice that should have been granted eight years ago. Such an injustice must not be allowed to continue. As the last resort for judiciary justice, the Supreme Court of People's Republic of China can no longer act as an onlooker.
We strongly appeal to the Supreme People's court to hear this case and make a fair judgement based on rules of law, to release Wang Bo and her parents.
Han Lingrong
Note
1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.
2. "Personal cangues" - Cangue, the name of an instrument of torture, is now used to indicate the person who was designated to supervise the behaviour of practitioners.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/6/24/157481.html
* * *
You are welcome to print and circulate all articles published on Clearharmony and their content, but please quote the source.
more ...