Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Song Wenhua and Ms. Li Lixin of Tianjin City were arrested on January 25th, 2008, and were detained at the Beichen Detention Centre in Tianjin City. On February 4th, they were given arrest documents. On the morning of April 25th, they were sentenced by the Beichen Court in Tianjin City. The judge only allowed two family members to attend. All other relatives and friends were not allowed to enter the court. The court also appointed lawyers.
Police officers barged into Ms. Song Wenhua's residence at around 2:30 p.m. on January 25th, 2008. The excuse given was checking the residents. The police confiscated a computer, printers and other personal property. Because many Falun Gong related items were found in Ms. Song's house, she was detained and incarcerated in the Beichen Detention Centre by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) personnel.
On April 25th at 8:30 a.m., CCP personnel carried out a so-called "trial" in the Beichen Court. They claimed that Ms. Song Wenhua printed copies of the leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong, and other related Falun Gong materials. They also charged that she had tried to distribute these materials but was not successful, and she was charged with "attempting to commit a crime." She was sentenced to a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years of imprisonment. During the court session, the judge and lawyer repeatedly asked Ms. Song about details and made use of the fact that she was not familiar with the law to deceive her into admitting to her "crime." Ms. Song repeatedly insisted that the so-called evidence was fabricated and the amount of the materials they claimed to have found was not possible. However, the judge told her not to concentrate on the amount and only answer if she had the items in her possession.
During her defence, Ms. Song Wenhua said that all the people in the world need to have freedom of belief. The judge finally rebuked her and forbade her from speaking on this topic.
The lawyer told Ms. Song Wenhua to sign a piece of paper admitting to her crime. Ms. Song refused and said that she did not commit any crime and saw no reason to sign. The lawyer respected her decision.
When Ms. Song's daughter asked the lawyer why her computer was confiscated when no Falun Gong related materials were found on it, the lawyer replied that this was not an issue related to the court. He said that he had asked people from the police station, but they said that the computer did have Falun Gong related materials on it and was thus confiscated.
Ms. Li Lixin, who was arrested the same day as Ms. Song, was also sentenced in court on April 25th. She was charged with the crime of installing a satellite dish to watch programmes from a sympathetic to Falun Gong TV network, New Tang Dynasty Television. Due to pressure from her family members, she was compelled to sign the court document, thus accepting the sentence.
Ms. Li Lixin was arrested on the afternoon of January 25th, 2008. At around 2:00 p.m. that day, five police cars and dozens of police officers arrived at her house and forcibly confiscated her satellite dish and receiver, her desktop computer, a box of Falun Gong books and materials, and more. The night before, policemen from the Yixingfu Police Station went to her house to take a look and lied, saying that someone reported to the authorities that there were gambling sessions taking place at her house.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/5/4/177777.html
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