(Minghui.org) On the morning of July 3, 2012, officials at Qixia Court in Shandong Province secretly held an illegal trial of six local Falun Gong practitioners at the Qixia Detention Center, without informing the defense lawyers or members of the defendants' families. Upon hearing the news, the defense lawyers in Beijing contacted officials at the court to ask why they had not been notified of the trial. Officials at the court replied by saying that the defendants had dismissed their lawyers. From previous experience, the lawyers believed that the court officials were not telling the truth, so they decided to investigate further.
Lawyer Wang Yajun arrived at the Fushan Detention Center in Yantai on July 6 to conduct an on-site investigation for his client, Ms. Jiang Shuying. It turned out that on a date prior to June 28, the deputy chief judge of Qixia Court, Lin Baohua, went to the Fushan Detention Center with her secretary to coerce Ms. Jiang into pleading guilty and to dismiss her lawyer. Ms. Jiang refused immediately. On June 28, Lin forced Ms. Jiang's husband, child and many of her relatives to go to the Fushan Detention Center with her to exert pressure on Ms. Jiang. Lin claimed the court would appoint another lawyer for Ms. Jiang or she could choose to defend herself. Ms. Jiang refused once again. When Ms. Jiang was told to sign a court document, she wrote on it, “I am not guilty.”
Officials at the Qixia Court were quick to hold a secret trial on July 3. Police vehicles surrounded the detention center and barricades were set up at every corner to prevent anyone from getting past. When Ms. Jiang asked the judge why her lawyer was not present, the judge replied, “I have called your lawyer and notified him about the trial but he doesn't want to come.” Ms. Jiang then requested to call her lawyer herself. The judge asked, “Do you know your attorney's phone number?” When Ms. Jiang said that she did not know the number, the judge quickly said, “We don't know the number either.” Ms. Jiang responded, “Didn't you just say that you had called him to notify him about the trial?” The judge remained silent.
In order to protect the legal rights of their clients and their right to defend them, the four lawyers from Beijing representing the practitioners successively arrived at Qixia to appeal. On the afternoon of July 6, director Shi, in charge of discipline at Qixia Court, met with lawyer Wang, and told him that he would respond to the appeal after conducting an investigation. Section chief Wang, in charge of appealing at the Procuratorate, then met with lawyer Wang and said he would monitor the investigation. When an official with the last name Sun from the office of the People's Congress met with lawyer Wang, he said that he would relay Wang's information to Mr. Liu, director of the office of the People's Congress.
The phone number of Lin Baohua, the deputy chief judge of Qixia Court and the presiding judge of the illegal trial: 86-5355215452, 86-13854553066, 86-15066381033.
