One day before the trial, Ms. Li's family was told by authorities that the date had not been decided.
Hundreds of People in Shuangcheng City Call for the Release of Ms. Li Lanying
On December 2, 2009, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Lanying was illegally sentenced to a four-year prison term by the Shuangcheng People's Court in Heilongjiang Province. Ms. Li and her husband Mr. Gao Guang'en were persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CPP), which made people in Shuangcheng angry at the local government. More than four hundred people stood up and called for the unconditional release of Ms. Li. At the end of December 2009, Ms. Li's family appealed to Harbin Intermediate People's Court.
Ms. Li was born on October 15, 1956. She lives in Min'an Village, Wujia Town, Shuangcheng. Before practicing Falun Gong, she suffered from many diseases and her husband lost his ability to work due to his cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. At one time, this drove the couple to thoughts of suicide because of their diseases and poor living conditions. However, when they heard about Falun Gong, they started practicing it, and within only a few months, all their chronic diseases were gone. They benefited tremendously from Falun Gong physically and mentally, and they were able to start a new life.
However, soon the CCP started the persecution of Falun Gong and Mr. Gao was illegally held in a detention center and severely tortured. When he was released, the local police broke into their home, kidnapped him, ransacked their home and harassed them again and again. On January 5, 2006, sadly, Mr Gao passed away due to the brutal torture.
On September 9, 2009, when Ms. Li was talking to people about Falun Gong, Zhang Dahai, head of Shuangjing Village, and Wang Jun, CCP Secretary, reported her to the police. Xu Kai, chief of Wujia Police Station, and police officers Yang Zhongwei and Wang Changqi abducted her and broke into her home. They took a computer, a printer and other personal property. Later, they sent Ms. Li to the 2nd Detention Center of Harbin City (nickname Duck Nest Ring).
On September 28, 2009, Ms. Li's family went to Wujia Police Station and demanded her unconditional release. However the police refused and Yang Zhongwei, vice director of Wujia Police Station, shouted at them rudely, "Just go ahead and try to sue us!"
Tong Huiqun from the Domestic Security Team of Shuangcheng City Police Department, along with police officers from Wujia Police Station, falsified evidence against Ms. Li and submitted it to the Procuratorate three times, concocting a false charge against her. Their charge was rebutted the first two times, however, on the third occasion, Zhang Hailong, a prosecutor from the City Procuratorate accepted the case without investigating. He submitted the charge to the Shuangcheng People's Court.
On December 2, 2009, the Shuangcheng People's Court placed Ms. Li on "trial." A day before the trial, Ms. Li's family asked when it would take place, but they were told that the date had not been decided. Through her family's efforts in making different inquiries, they finally found out that Ms. Li was going to trial in half an hour. They hurried to the court and saw Ms. Li who was very weak due to the torture. Although it was a bitterly cold winter in northern China, she was only allowed to wear slippers. It was verified later that when Ms. Li went on a hunger strike to protest, the police brutally forced-fed her several times. They even threatened her, "If you still say you won't quit practicing Falun Gong, we will force-feed you every day!"
Ms. Li was badly tortured and she developed high blood-pressure and became very weak.
The whole process of the illegal trial lasted for less than 20 minutes. Judge Wu Haomin, two judicial officials Zheng He and Xu Bingquan, secretary Zhao Yu, prosecutor Zhang Hailong, several police, and Ms. Li's family were the only people allowed to be present at the trial. The judge and the prosecutor asked a few token questions and then called it a day.
Seeing Ms. Li in court, her family knew that she had been brutally tortured. They requested to see Ms. Li in the detention center, however, the prosecutor in the detention center said, "We cannot let you see her, because if you saw her, Ms. Li could appeal. If that happened, then our efforts would be in vain."
On December 9, 2009, the judges from the Shuangcheng People's Court broke the law and illegally sentenced Ms. Li to a four-year prison term. She appealed to the Harbin Intermediate People's Court.
Ms. Li is in now in Shuangcheng Detention Center. More than four hundred villagers from Wujia Town and neighboring towns, and people in Shuangcheng, decided to help her by signing a petition that asked the police to unconditionally release her. Some of these people had seen for themselves how Ms. Li changed miraculously after practicing Falun Gong, and others heard about the true story.