Harbin City High Court: There Is No Precedent for Falun Gong to Appeal

In early April 2010, the Daowai District Court in Harbin City tried three practitioners, including Mr. Zhang Cheng, Mr. Guan Wenxiu, and Ms. Liu Bobin. Mr. Guan and Ms. Liu's family members were present at the trial, while Mr. Zhang's family members were not present because they were not notified of the trial. Soon after the trial had began, Mr. Guan's family members were chased out.

In the court, Mr. Guan wanted to defend himself, but the judge would not allow it. The police pointed at Mr. Guan's head and threatened him. At the end, Ms. Liu was sentenced to five years, Mr. Guan four years, and Mr. Zhang three years.

Mr. Guan filed for an appeal, but the high court informed him, "There is no precedent for Falun Gong practitioners to appeal." Ms. Liu was later taken to Heilongjiang Women's Prison, while Mr. Guan and Mr. Zhang were still in Daowai District Second Jail.

On October 24th, 2009, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Guan, and Ms. Liu, along with two other practitioners, were arrested and detained by Sui Changjiang, chief of the Yongyuan Township Police Station in Daowai District, when they went to Yongyuan Township to distribute Falun Gong informational materials. The National Security Squadron of the Daowai Police Department fabricated stories and materials to collaborate with the district attorney's office and the court to frame them.

The practitioners were often mistreated by other inmates in the jail. The police coerced and forced the inmates to beat the practitioners. They hit Mr. Zhang's head against the wall, beat and injured him, causing him to become bedridden for a month.

The jail also tortured practitioners by pouring cold water over their heads to freeze them. Some even passed out. Mr. Guan had 46 buckets of cold water poured over his head.

In the jail, the practitioners were starved most of the time. One practitioner was given only a small bun and a bit of soup for each meal. Everyone looked like a skeleton after a few months. The food and clothing that the family members brought to the jail were mostly stolen by the police and inmates. The practitioners seldom had a chance to see the items.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has no legal basis, the so-called trial is only for show, and letting attorneys defend the practitioners is a mere formality. The trial results are predetermined by the CCP. The witnesses testifying in court dare not say anything favorable about the practitioners, let alone proclaim their innocence.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/7/12/226874.html