Before the Beijing Olympics, officials from the Communist ruling regime began another round of bloody and cruel suppression of Falun Gong under the pretext of assuring a better environment for the Games. The persecutors resorted to a series of arrests and home ransacking and arrested many practitioners. Most of the practitioners were sentenced to forced labour, and some of them were severely abused, to the point of being unable to take care of themselves.
Following the arrests, court proceedings commenced four times within 20 days to subject practitioners to unjust trials.
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| Practitioner Ma Duo |
Police arrested 26-year-old Ma Duo and sentenced her to three years in prison on May 23 , 2008. Her family got the notice on June 6th. Ma Duo and her family sent an appeal to a higher court and retained a Beijing lawyer to defend her. When her relative went to the Jiamusi Intermediate Court to go through normal trial procedure, more than ten officers from the Domestic Security division arrested four of her family members and his relatives in the presence of the lawyer. It is said the purpose of the arrest was to trace the person who hired the lawyer from Beijing.
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| Practitioner Deng Linfeng |
On June 18th, Jiamusi officials manipulated authorities at the Railway Transportation Court to put practitioner Deng Linfeng on trial. Dozens of seats in the courtroom were occupied by plain clothes police. As they didn't inform Mr. Deng's relatives and friends to have their IDs with them, many of them were blocked at the court's entrance. Approximately ten relatives entered the courtroom. Lawyer Zhang Jianguo from Beijing Eastern Henxin Law Office presented a defence, having Deng declared innocent.
Railway police had arrested Deng Linfeng and her 17-year-old child on February 26th, 2008. The teenager became severely ill after police intimidation, including having their home ransacked.
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| Practitioner Li Haishan |
On June 16th, Tangyuan Court officials put practitioner Li Haishan on trial. Li Haishan, 57, is a musician, a member of the Heilongjiang Musicians and Literature Association. He worked at the Tangyuan County House of Culture. On March 5th, 2008, deputy police department political head Zhou Zhejing and Domestic Security Division head Zhou Tiegang, together with some other police officers, broke into his home and took him away. They also confiscated his computer and printer.
On June 11th, Jiansan Agricultural Settlement Court officials secretly put practitioners Tian Baoyu, Shi Mengwen, Chen Dong, Sun Yan, and Yu Fengxian on trial. Only one practitioner knew privately that the practitioners would be tried in several days, but still didn't know the exact time. He hired a lawyer who arrived at 3:00 p.m. and learned that court proceedings would commence the next day. The lawyer petitioned to postpone the session, but the court judge refused. They didn't even want the lawyer to attend the session. The lawyer pointed out that their refusal was a violation of law, and said that they had to let the lawyer appear for the trial. The schedule left the lawyer almost no time to read the documents. The next day, more than 30 relatives of the five practitioners were present at the trial. The lawyer pointed out that the court judge had violated the law on seven or eight points and made a motion to have one of the practitioners declared innocent. The judge ran out of options and hastily ended the session.
We appeal to all people from international human rights organizations and from the media to pay special attention to the recent persecution of Falun Gong practitioners under the pretext of maintaining the stability of the Beijing Olympics. We hope, in particular, that domestic and overseas media will come to interview the victims and report on the persecution.
Lawyer Li Xiongbing from Beijing's Gaobo Longhua Law Office; entered a not-guilty plea for Li Haishan: 86-13701221801(mobile), 86-10-84512800 ext. 831
Lawyer Zhang Jianguo from the Eastern Henxin Law Office; entered a not-guilty plea made for Shi Mengwen, Deng Linfeng, and Ma Duo.
Lawyer Zhang Jianguo: 86-13811806771(mobile), 86-10-87408711 (Office)
Jiamusi City Suburb People's Procuratorate
Attorney General: 86-454-8584593
Deputy Attorney General: 86-454-8586406, 8584316
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/7/6/181530.html
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