(Minghui.org) Under the direct control of Dandong City 610 Office in Liaoning Province, Zhenxing District Court in Dandong illegally sentenced three local practitioners to jail on August 10, 2012. Ms. Liu Pintong was given eight years, Ms. Zhang Yinghong seven years, and Ms. Zhang Jing three-and-a-half years. All three of them have filed appeals challenging the illegal sentences imposed on them.
Dandong Police Arrest Four Local Practitioners after Ransacking Their Homes and Falsifying Evidence
On March 3, 2012, while clarifying the facts about Falun Gong near Haiyan Machine Factory in Qianyang, Donggang City, four local female practitioners were reported to police by Sui Mingzhen from Xinyou Street Committee of Jianghai Street in the Zhenxing District. Agents from the Border Security Police Department in Qianyang came to arrest Liu Pintong, Zhang Yinghong, Zhang Jing and Wang Jing. The police impounded Ms. Zhang Yinghong’s car (valued at more than 100,000 yuan) and also confiscated cash and house keys from the women.
The next morning agents from different Border Security police departments from the Qianyang, Xingang, Langtou and Dandong City Border Economy Cooperation District, as well as the Dandong City Domestic Security Office, ransacked the homes of Ms. Wang Jing, Ms. Zhang Jing, and Ms. Zhang Yinghong. In total, the police looted personal belongings worth more than 80,000 yuan. Before they left, they also fabricated crime scenes and took pictures of them.
Acting on orders from the Donggang City Domestic Security Office, agents from the Border Security Police Department in Qianyang ransacked Ms. Liu Pintong’s home on March 7. They impounded Ms. Liu’s motorcycle and a 49,800-yuan mini-van owned by her nephew. The police found nothing useful to them inside the residence.
Dandong 610 Office Orders Interrogation and Torture of Ms. Liu Pintong
After the illegal arrest of the four practitioners, Dandong City 610 Office immediately got involved in persecuting them. On the night of March 3, chief Sun Yajun and deputy chief Wang Zhanquan of the Border Security Police Station in Qianyang interrogated the four practitioners for the entire evening at Dandong Detention Center. Ms. Liu Pintong refused to answer any questions or sign any documents.
By noon the next day, Dandong City 610 Office ordered agents from Dandong City Border Economy Cooperation District to interrogate the four practitioners using torture.
Ms. Liu was taken to a room where three plainclothes officers showered her with punches and kicks. They pulled her hair so hard that clumps of it came out. They also kicked her legs and slapped her in the face savagely. While beating her, they verbally abused her non-stop. After about 15 minutes, they held her down and threatened her, “You’re going to receive the most jail time because you have a bad attitude. We don’t care how many DVDs you really had. Even if you had none, we could just write down you have a ton of them!”
When Ms. Liu’s defense attorney came to meet her on July 17, she gave him a complaint letter with a detailed description of the three thugs who beat her. She also indicated that one other person present at her beating was from the Dandong City 610 Office. It was apparent that the 610 Office instigated her interrogation and torture.
Dandong Police Fabricate Evidence against Practitioners
While trying to extort confessions by torture from the four female practitioners, the police also coerced their families into fabricating evidence for them.
When Ms. Liu Pintong’s 16-year-old son, Hu Xuanming, went to Ms. Zhang Jing’s home to ask about his mother, he encountered the police ransacking the residence. The teenager was then forced to make up evidence against his mother. He also witnessed how the police coerced Ms. Zhang’s father into writing a “confession.”
Despite torturing Ms. Liu, the police couldn’t get anything out of her. They coerced Ms. Zhang Yinghong into writing a confession against Ms. Liu. In regard to this matter, Ms. Liu’s lawyer pointed out, “We cannot rule out the possibility that Zhang Yinghong provided false evidence either as a result of torture or monetary enticement.”
Liu Pintong, Zhang Yinghong and Zhang Jing Secretly Sentenced
Three months after the arrest of the practitioners, the Zhenxing District attorney indicted Liu Pintong, Zhang Yinghong and Zhang Jing.
After meeting with Ms. Liu on July 17, her lawyer made a request to Zhenxing District Court that all illegal and fabricated evidence against her not be admitted in the case. The court refused to honor the request and convened the trial of the three practitioners on July 27. The presiding judge, Tao Zhanhua, quickly called for an adjournment and promised to re-convene on a different day. The court, directed by the Dandong City 610 Office, secretly sentenced the three practitioners to prison sentences on August 10. Ms. Liu Pintong was given eight years, Ms. Zhang Yinghong seven years, and Ms. Zhang Jing three-and-a-half years.
It was discovered that Ms. Zhang Yinghong’s family had spent a large sum of money in an attempt to obtain her release. The court threatened her family not to enter a not-guilty plea on her behalf. They are now considering hiring a defense attorney to defend her; otherwise, she will face grave consequences. The family ended up not using any lawyer for fear of getting their loved one into more trouble. However, the reality is that Ms. Zhang was still given a heavy sentence.
At present, all three practitioners have filed an appeal to protest their sentences.
