Innocent Women from Hebei Province Sentenced

On October 30th, 2008, Li County Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee members, 610 Office¹ personnel, and Baoding City Court in Hebei Province put Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Cui Xiaoxian, Ms. Cui Shumei, and Ms. Feng Wenzhen on trial. They did not allow the defendants to speak to their lawyers or allow the lawyers to defend the practitioners. CCP personnel sentenced Ms. Feng to six years, Ms. Cui Xiaoxian to three years, and Ms. Cui Shumei to three years. Their families are preparing to appeal.

Before this, Li County Party Committee Assistant Secretary Ning Hongmao, Politics and Judiciary Committee Secretary Ma Yimin, 610 Office Head Zhang Yuexian, and others forced Li County court to put the three women on trial twice, but closed the cases hastily because the defense lawyer revealed that the evidence was forged. The practitioners should have been released, but Ning Hongmao ordered them detained while officials continued to try to sentence them.

Feng Wenzhen	Cui Shumei

Cui Xiaoxian

Ms. Feng Wenzhen, a 52-year-old resident of Nanguan Village, Chengguan Town, Li County, conducted herself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance after she began to practise Falun Gong in1998. Her serious bronchitis, foot problems, and so on all disappeared. She became healthy, her temper improved, and she became kinder.

Ms. Cui Shumei, a 58-year-old resident of Nanguan Village, Chengguan Town, Li County, began to practise Falun Gong in 2003. Before this, she had a short temper and poor health. All her fingers were disfigured and she often had cramps when she stretched her legs while sleeping at night. Her appetite was not good and she frequently had diarrhea in the middle of the night. Within three months of practising Falun Gong, all her diseases disappeared. Her relatives and friends all say she has a better temper and health.

Ms. Cui Xiaoxian, a 63, used to work at the Li County Environment Protection Bureau. She began to practise Falun Gong after she retired in 1998. She had many diseases: varicose veins and cervical problems and problems with her arms and legs. After she started to practise Falun Gong, all of her diseases vanished, her temperament improved, and she treated others very kindly. After the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, she was often harassed. She became destitute to avoid persecution and was not even able to arrange her son's wedding. Her family is still being harassed by CCP personnel.

On September 19th, 2007, Wang Junchang, chief of the domestic security division of Li County Public Security Bureau, and a group of policemen arrested Ms. Cui Xiaoxian, Ms. Cui Shumei, and Ms. Feng Wenzhen. They ransacked the women's homes and confiscated their private property. On December 24th, 2007, Li County court tried the women for the first time and found that the evidence was insufficient. Wang Junchang violated legal procedures when he ransacked their homes, had no third party witness, and had no detailed list of confiscated property or family member's signature. When Ms. Cui Xiaoxian's home was ransacked, her husband, Zhang Xiangrui, did sign a list that included "a book" and "several empty CD boxes." The list he signed was then amended. He wrote a supporting document, sent it to the police station, the procuratorate, and the court, and demanded to confront Wang Junchang face-to-face. When confronted with the facts, Wang Junchang had to admit that he altered "one book" to "100 books," "empty CD boxes" to "370 CDs and 50 cassettes," and added extra items.

After the first trial ended in failure, Wang Junchang again forged evidence--this time, "seven certificates"--and the second trial was held on June 17th, 2008. The seven certificates overrode all of the forged evidence from the first trial. However, the new evidence was even less able to hold up under scrutiny. Confronted with questions from the attorney in court, the judges were stunned. The date of the forged evidence was September 15th, 2007, but the three practitioners were arrested on September 19th, 2007. That is to say, four days before they were taken away, the police had already found "evidence" in their homes. The first and second pieces of "evidence" were both provided by the Li County Public Security Bureau domestic security division. This evidence, however, proved contradictory to the other evidence.

Li County CCP personnel forced the court to put the three practitioners on trial twice. Because their defence lawyer revealed that evidence had been fabricated by policeman Wang Junchang, they had to wind things up hastily. The three practitioners have been detained for over a year now. Their family members have made requests to visit many times but so far have been denied permission. As of today, the detained practitioners have yet to see their families.

Relevant personnel:
Zhang Yuexian, head of the 610 Office: 86-13633228299 (Mobile), 86-312-6211103 (Office)
86-321-6215541, 86-321-6235800
Xu Yonggang, deputy-chief of the 610 Office: 86-312-6223655 (Home), 86-13082350138(Mobile),
Wang Junchang, chief of the Li County Public Security Bureau domestic security division: 86-312-6226606
Guo Jianmin, Li County Public Security Bureau commissar (in charge of this case): 86-321-6218121, 86-321-6923698, 86-13803125771(Mobile),
Ning Hongmao, Li County party committee assistant secretary (in charge of persecuting Falun Gong): 86-321-6222558, 86-321-5060282, 86-321-6237866, 86-13903363299 (Mobile), 86-312-5060282
An Junqi, Li County procuratorate chief prosecutor: 86-321-6211658, 86-321-2317528, 86-13582258988 (Cell), 86-13931397688 (Mobile),
Wang Zhiqiang, Li County procuratorate chief prosecutor (in charge of authorizing the arrests): 86-13582077777 (Mobile),
Zhang Zhaokun, Li County chief justice: 86-321-6228600, 86-13930381155 (Mobile),
Zhai Yanqing, Li County Public Security Bureau chief: 86-312-6226166,
86-321-3025556, 86-13932229115 (Mobile), 86-321-3188136 (Home)

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.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/11/2/189050.html