Unlike many Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Wang was allowed effective representation in court, but despite the prosecution being unable to answer his defense, he received a long sentence.
Ms. Ma Xiulan was detained by the police while she was distributing Falun Gong informational materials. For a long time her family could not contact her. On January 6, 2009, her family went to the Military Police Hospital in Guangzhou City. They were told her condition was in the late stages and too late for surgery or other types of treatment, as she could die at any moment.
Mr. Gong is arrested while attending a class reunion in Beijing. His home company is unable to secure his release.
Mr. Wang Jinglun, 76, Sentenced to Seven Years of Imprisonment in Heilongjiang Province
Mr. Wang Jinglun, 76, is a retired teacher. He had worked at Shengli Town High School in Bin County, Heilongjiang Province. Mr. Wang had helped develop the talent of many students and is highly respected in the county's educational community. This well-respected educator was recently sentenced to seven years of imprisonment because he practices Falun Gong.
The court's sentence generated a great awakening in his community. Many people said that the Chinese Communist Party was doomed since it deemed it necessary to inflict such a heavy sentence on a good person.
Further details: On the afternoon of December 1, 2008, the Bin County Court in Heilongjiang Province illegally put Mr. Wang and three other practitioners on trial. The trumped-up charge was "undermining the implementation of law." The government prosecutor charged the practitioners on the evidence that they had gathered at Mr. Wang's home on the evening of August 12, 2008. There, the police found Falun Gong books, Falun Gong informational materials that detailed the persecution of Falun Gong, and a printer to make the materials.
Regarding this charge, Mr. Wang and the other practitioners all proclaimed to the court that they were innocent of any wrongdoing. Their attorney, Wei Junlin from the Shengong Law Firm in Heilongjiang Province, firmly entered a plea of not guilty on their behalf. He also told the court that practicing Falun Gong, telling people about the practice, and talking about the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong were all legal under the Chinese constitution. The attorney also stated that the practitioners were innocent of any crime, and, therefore, the court had to release them unconditionally.
While in court, Attorney Wei Junlin also said, "Falun Gong promotes Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and teaches people to be good. It is simply not a cult, as the CCP claims."
Facing the rational and unassailable defense put forth by the practitioners'
attorney, the CCP prosecutors and the judge could not respond. Before and after
the trial, the local practitioners many times explained the facts about the
persecution to the court personnel who were in charge of the practitioners'
cases. The practitioners urged them to respect the law and human rights and to
stand on the side of justice. They asked them to unconditionally release Mr.
Wang and the other practitioners. However, the judge and other officials broke
the law. Ten days later, the court passed a sentence of seven years imprisonment
on Mr. Wang, and the other practitioners were sentenced to three to four years.
Ms. Ma Xiulan Is Persecuted and on the Verge of Death
Ms. Ma Xiulan, 67, was born in Shandong Province. She followed her two daughters to Nanhai District, Foshan City and she has lived there for over 12 years. After Ms. Ma started practicing Falun Gong, she obtained great physical health. On June 19, 2008, she was abducted by Diejiao Police Station when she was distributing Falun Gong informational materials in Diejiao Neighborhood. She was detained at Nanhai Detention Center. Ms. Ma's physical health has worsened ever since. She was getting thinner and weaker until she could no longer take in any food or eliminate any waste. She looked like she was shriveling up and dwindling away. The detention center never reported her condition to her family.
Ms. Ma's family was eager to know about her situation. They searched each detention center, court, 610 Office, police department and station, but no one helped them or cared. The money and materials sent by the family to Ms. Ma were never delivered. On December 3, 2008, Ms. Ma's daughter went to the court, where she was told the trial date was that very afternoon. Before that, family members were told by the Procuratorate that the court date was December 22, 2008. The whole family waited at the courtroom entrance, hoping to see Ms. Ma.
Around 3:00 p.m. on December 3, 2008, the police car that transported Ms. Ma arrived at the entrance. The family saw that Ms. Ma was so extremely skinny that her bones showing, and she was barely recognizable. When her daughter called her name, she was not able to recognize her. The police carried her into the courtroom for the trial to begin. According to sources, that day was the third time Ms. Ma had been taken to the court to be sentenced. Because of her physical condition, each time the court had had to be adjourned.
Ms. Ma had already been detained for six months. The persecution she had endured had left her mentally unstable and she was unable to walk. She had to be carried from the car by the police and held up by two people in order to stand in the courtroom. Her family inquired about her physical condition, but no one replied. They immediately applied for a release for her to seek medical treatment, but it was denied. The judge even boasted that she would be sentenced to at least three years in prison.
On January 6, 2009, Ms. Ma's daughter received a call from the detention center, telling the family to go to the Military Police Hospital in Guangzhou City and take Ms. Ma home. The family arrived as early as they could but waited at the hospital for several hours. They tried to ask the hospital staff about Ms. Ma's condition and requested her medical records but were ignored. The police did not allow her family members any contact with the hospital staff.
Ms. Ma Xiulan was excited to return home, and her mental state was not bad. However, she suddenly turned extremely weak after a few hours. There were many bruises on her body. According to Ms. Ma, she was beaten by the staff at the detention center. Her family took her to a hospital for treatment right away. After a check-up, the hospital announced that there were tumors were spreading throughout her body and she could not be treated.
When the court was trying to sentence Ms. Ma, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
personnel brought in a so-called "supporting lawyer" named Zhao Guoping. He
asked Ms. Ma to say that she had been hired and paid to distribute the
materials. He had known from the beginning about the persecution that Ms. Ma had
been subjected to, but without a conscience, he not only didn't help request
treatment for Ms. Ma, he also helped the CCP hide her condition from her family.
When the family asked Zhao Guoping to apply for a later sentencing and get her
released for medical treatment, he had the family pay him 1000
yuan
in cash. After Ms. Ma returned home, her family saw what serious condition she
was in and called the lawyer to inquire about her situation in recent months.
The lawyer was nowhere to be found, and his cell phone was completely turned
off.
Mr. Gong Yibin Arrested and Sentenced in Beijing
Mr. Gong Yibin, a Falun Gong practitioner from Hubei Province, was in Beijing on December 4, 2008, for a class reunion. On the 5th, he and his former classmates went to tour the capital. When they got to a street several bus stops away from Tiananmen Square, a policeman stopped and searched them. The officer looked at the personal identification of each one and asked Mr. Gong, "Have you practiced Falun Gong?" Mr. Gong said, "Yes, I have." The police then searched him and found Falun Gong materials in his bag. Mr. Gong was forced into the police car and has been held in Dongcheng District Detention Center ever since.
Mr. Gong is 40 years old and is a senior engineer at China Petroleum Gas Compressor Factory in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. He is the technical backbone of the factory and every year he has been selected as the "model worker." He follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and enjoys helping others. His wife does not have a job, so his family depends on him, and his factory also really needs him.
Three top officials from Mr. Gong's factory, including the director of the Security Department, hurriedly went to Beijing the same day Mr. Gong was arrested. They used all their connections in Beijing and spent a significant sum of money to try to get Mr. Gong out of the detention center. They stayed in Beijing for two weeks, and finally the Detention Center agreed to let the security department director visit Mr. Gong once. During those two weeks, one of the top officials from Mr. Gong's factory, three officials in the security department, and two top officials from the Tianmen City Security Guard negotiated with the detention center, but those in charge at the detention center used the excuse that Mr. Gong would not admit his "guilt" and thus refused to release him.
On January 7, 2009, Mr. Gong was illegally sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp.