Mr. Mei Dazuo from Wuhan City Illegally Sentenced

(Clearwisdom.net) (By a correspondent from Hubei Province) Mr. Mei Dazuo, also called Mei Yuan, runs a business in Xiaodongmen, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, selling floor boards. Mr. Mei is an honest, well-respected businessman. However, because of his firm belief in Falun Gong and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the Chinese Communist Party has brutally persecuted him. On October 22, 2009, he was sentenced to four years in prison.

On the evening of February 9, 2009, Wu Gang, the deputy superintendent of the Nanhu Street Police Station, and two police officers Yang Lei and Qiu Zhonghua, stopped him on the street and interrogated him. When other police officers Wang Xinmin, Liu Hui and Chen Cong, from Nanhu Street Police Station, found out that Mr. Mei was a Falun Gong practitioner, they arrested him and ransacked his apartment. Mr. Mei is currently being held in the Qingling Detention Center in Wuchang District, Wuhan City.

On October 22, 2009, an open session was held at Wuchang District Court. Prior to the session, officials from the Court and the Wuchang District People's Procuratorate met with Mr. Mei's lawyer and tried to pressure him. When Mr. Mei's lawyer said that his client had not violated any law, the judge agreed with him but said that they did not have the final say in the matter, because such a case was subject to the decision of the Political and Judiciary Committee and the 610 Office. No witnesses were allowed into the court, and only officials from the Procuratorate spoke in the court proceedings.

The officials stated that they would hold an open session, but only three family members were allowed to enter the courtroom. Most of Mr. Mei's relatives had to wait outside.

Events leading up to the court session are listed below:

1. At midnight on February 10, 2009, Wu Gang and police officers Wang Xinmin, Lin Xuejun, Chen Cong and Liu Hui ransacked Mr. Mei Dazuo's apartment while nobody was at home. They confiscated his computer, MP3 player, his residential registration book, a motorcycle, camera and other personal belongings. They also confiscated three cell phones from Mr. Mei's family. At his family's insistence, they returned the motorcycle and registration book. The police did not itemize any of the things they took, nor did they write a receipt. They even denied taking the cell phones. When Mr. Mei's family said that they would report the loss of their property to the police, the officers told them that no one would take their complaint at the police station.

2. Wang Xinmin, a police officer from Nanhu Street Police Station, and Lin Xuejun, an official from Wuchang District Domestic Security Division, frequently harassed Mr. Mei's relatives, claiming that they were making investigations into Mr. Mei. They even harassed Mr. Mei's 9-year-old nephew. They frequently went to the child's primary school to harass him, threaten him and force him to give false evidence against his uncle.

3. Officials from the Wuchang District Procuratorate claimed that Mr. Mei had committed crimes of "sending Falun Gong messages" and "sabotaging the implementation of law." Sending such messages is the right of any citizen, as well as an individual's freedom of speech. The officials finally charged Mr. Mei with "sabotaging the implementation of law," but could not actually state how he did so.

4. On June 23, 2009, the Wuchang District People's Procuratorate transferred Mr. Mei's case to Wuchang District Court, but the court didn't hold an open session until October 22, 2009. This process took four months and thus violated several laws and statutes:

• Article 168 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, where it states, "A People s Court shall pronounce judgment on a case of public prosecution within one month or, one and a half months at the latest, after accepting it."

• Article 74 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. It states, "Article 74 - If a case involving a criminal suspect or defendant in custody cannot be closed within the time limit stipulated by this Law for keeping the criminal suspect or defendant under custody for the sake of investigation, for conducting examination before prosecution, or for the procedure of first or second instance and thus further investigation, verification and handling are needed, the criminal suspect or defendant may be allowed to obtain a guarantor pending trial or subjected to residential surveillance."

• Article 75 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. "Article 75 - If the compulsory measures adopted by a People's Court, a People's Procuratorate or a public security organ exceed the time limit prescribed by law, the criminal suspect or defendant, his legal representatives, near relatives, or the lawyers or other defenders entrusted by the criminal suspect or defendant shall have the right to demand cancellation of the compulsory measures. The People's Court, the People's Procuratorate, or the public security organ shall release the criminal suspect or defendant when the compulsory measures adopted against him have exceeded the time limit prescribed by law, terminate the period for awaiting trial after obtaining a guarantor or for residential surveillance, or take different compulsory measures according to law."

• Item 2 of Article 80 on Some Interpretations for the Implementation of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, Supreme People's Court. It states, "The defendant shall be allowed to obtain a guarantor or subject to residential surveillance if the court didn't pronounce judgment on a case of public prosecution within a legal period of judgment, after accepting it. "