Harbin Court Sentences Practitioners Mr. Wang Kun and Ms. Zhu Yumei to Eight-Year Prison Terms

On March 25th, 2009, family members of practitioners Ms. Zhu Yumei and Mr. Wang Kun, from the Acheng Area of Harbin City, heard from an acquaintance that Ms. Zhu Yumei and Mr. Wang Kun had been sentenced to eight-year prison terms. The two families went to Acheng Court, demanding to see the court documents. The sentencing document was dated March 19th, which meant that the two practitioners had been sentenced a week prior.

The court officer Han Yang, who was in charge of the cases, had deceived the two families. He claimed that he couldn't handle the cases, and that they had been forwarded to the Harbin Intermediate Court. In actuality, the Acheng area 610 Office¹ was collaborating with the Acheng Procuratorate and the Harbin 610 Office. They handled the cases in secrecy in an effort to accelerate the persecution of Ms. Zhu and Mr. Kun.

Ms. Zhu Yumei and Mr. Wang Kun were arrested by police on July 2008 and imprisoned for four months. The local court held a hearing on December 23rd, 2008. Both families hired attorneys to represent the practitioners, who pleaded not-guilty. The two lawyers pointed out that having a personal belief is not a crime, and practising Falun Gong is allowed under existing law. They asked for the practitioners' release.

After a hearing, court personnel discovered that there was a problem with the charges and returned the cases back to the Procuratorate. When the Procuratorate received the cases back, Director Chen Yuhao from the State Security Division put together false evidence, and later ordered border police inspector Li Hongde to agree to the charges. Even though Li Hongde knew that the evidence Chen Yuhao presented was false, he put his official seal on it. The case was then handed back to the Intermediate court.

The Intermediate Court held a second hearing on March 9th, 2009, and the lawyers pointed out that the supplemental evidence had no substantive significance, and was full of contradictions. They again requested the release of the two practitioners.

After Ms. Zhu and Mr. Kun were arrested, their families and local practitioners went to the Acheng Procuratorate, the State Security Division, and the border police station many times to ask for their release, however their requests were rejected.

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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/3/29/197972.html