At 12:40 p.m. on September 2nd, 2009, the Qingyang District Court in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province held a trial against Mr. Li Yonghong, Mr. Yu Bin, and Ms. Xu Li. At 3 p.m., the court sentenced the three practitioners to between two and three and one half years in prison. The trial was originally scheduled for September 4th, but was pushed forward by two days to avoid public attention.
Mr. Li and Mr. Yu pleaded innocence. They exposed the mistreatment they had suffered since they were arrested in August of last year, such as extortion of a "confession," beating (two teeth of Mr. Li were knocked out), sleep deprivation for six days and nights, and police officers grasping their hands to take fingerprints or force signatures onto confession papers while they were unconscious. Ms. Xu appeared to have a mental disorder after the mistreatment.
The court rejected defence attorneys' requests for client interviews and examining case records, saying that "no charges have been placed". At the end of August, the court told the families and the attorneys that the trial would be held on September 4th. Later the court suddenly informed them that the trial would be advanced to 10 a.m. on September 2nd. On the morning of September 2nd, the court moved the trial to 12:40 p.m.
The court sentenced Mr. Li and Mr. Yu to three and one half years in prison, and Ms. Xu received a two-year prison sentence.
Mr. Li and Mr. Yu disagreed and said that they would appeal.
Mr. Li Yonghong is a graduate from the Xian Jiaotong University. The school withheld his graduation certification because of his belief in Falun Gong. He was imprisoned at a forced labour camp many times for his belief and suffered many inhumane mistreatments. This time, he was arrested in August 2008.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/9/5/207758.html
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